Tomoyo's Happy Ever After
by Matthew Turner
Summary: Alternate time line piece, picks up at the point where Tomoya breaks up with Tomoyo, but this time she refuses to let him give up. It's worth pointing out that my writing is mostly based off the visual novel, so it may not always sync up with the anime. I've been going back over previous work, I wanted to take on board some criticism and fix a few typos.
1. Chapter 1 - Revelations

**Tomoyo's happy ever after**

"You should just walk on straight ahead. Don't let yourself come to a standstill in a place like this. Get yourself away from someone like me. Because all I'm doing is weighing you down."

"No."

"What?"

"No, I won't let you give up."

"Give up…?"

"On us, on yourself, on life."

"But…"

"I know what you are capable of, what you could be, if you allowed yourself to be happy, to try. Life has given you a raw deal, and nobody blames you for giving up on expecting anything good to ever happen to you. But I won't let you anymore."

"Why…?"

"Because I love you. And I believe in you. That's why I won't break up with you."

What could I say to that? I suspect that if I tried to leave her, she'd drag me along kicking and screaming all the way, although, I'm not totally sure who'd be doing the kicking.

"But how do you think this is going to work out?"

"We just have to show everyone else what I already know."

"And what is it that you already know?"

"That you are far more intelligent than people assume you are."

"how do you work that out?"

"You have really bad test scores, but you've never failed one, even though you sleep through or ignore your classes." Hard to argue with her on that point really.

"How do you propose to prove that?"

"I think that if we can get the teachers to set you some specific study material, that hasn't been covered yet, then they can test you on that material."

"Okay, so say we do prove how smart I supposedly am, then what?"

"We ask them to put you back a year."

"What!?"

"You need to retake your exams but fitting three years study into a bit less than one, just isn't going to work; but just under two years to cover the three years material is definitely achievable."

"I genuinely have no idea why you have so much faith in my abilities."

"It's simple really, I know you."

"You're going to have to give me a bit more than that."

"I've seen how fast your mind works; your problem-solving skills and how well you do under pressure are truly exceptional."

"If you say so… alright, what's the game plan?" I was resigned to my fate at this point, there's no way I hell she's going to back down.

"Firstly, I'd like you to take an IQ test, it may help us to persuade the teachers to help us. And I think it would help you to see the potential you really have."

"Then what?"

"We talk to the teachers, oh and you'll have to meet my family."

"Woah! That's really not an 'Oh by the way' comment, why do I need to meet them all of a sudden?"

"But you'll need somewhere to study."

"I'm not seeing a connection there."

"With the way things are at home for you, your place isn't going to work, Sunohara's room really isn't going to work, so where else could you go?"

"You have a point, when does this have to happen then."

"Right now."

"What! Why!?"

"The IQ test is on my brother's computer."

*sigh* "Fine, let's go."

"Dad, this is Okazaki Tomoya, my boyfriend."

"So, I finally get to meet him, do I?"

"I-It's a pleasure to meet you Sakagami-sama." I gave a polite bow, but Tomoyo's father seemed to be trying to work out if I was joking or not.

"Relax son, you'll strain something, and Fujita-san will do. To what do we owe the pleasure of this meeting?"

"We need to borrow Takafumi's computer, and would it be okay if Tomoya came here to study?"

"I don't see a problem with it, is there a reason he needs to come here rather than his own home?" Tomoyo gave me a questioning glance.

"My father and I don't get on and since I hurt my shoulder… it's difficult to be in the same house with him."

"Your shoulder? What happened?"

"We were arguing, and he shoved me, I fell badly and broke my shoulder, and well since then…" He studied my face closely and seemed to be waiting for me to finish.

"Tomoya got into school on a basketball scholarship, but he can't raise his arm enough, so he can't play." I could see anger boiling behind his eyes.

"Is that all true, did he break your shoulder?"

"I-I just fell badly."

"You'd have to do a lot more than fall badly to do that much damage. You swear to me that every word is true?"

"Yes sir." Really, really not how I saw this going. Even Tomoyo looked worried. His eyes bored into mine, unblinking, I did all I could think to do, I held his gaze.

"Alright son, you'd better come in and sit down, we're going to be here for a while." His face softened significantly. Until he drew his phone out of his pocket and dialled the police. "Yes, I'd like to report a severe case of child abuse… yes, broken bones…" He looked at me. "How long ago?"

"Umm, a little over two years…" I was at a loss, I reached out to stop him, but Tomoyo stopped me.

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing." My head began to spin, the shock of what was happening hit me like a ton of bricks, my knees began to buckle under me, Tomoyo caught me and guided me over to a chair.

"You alright son?" I couldn't manage a response. "Tomoyo, you'd better get him a glass of water and ask your mother to come and see me please." Tomoyo nodded and almost sprinted out of the room, she returned quickly with some water. Seconds behind her, came a woman around the same age as Tomoyo's father, with the same silver hair as Tomoyo. She stopped in front of me.

"So, this is the boyfriend I've heard so much about is it? he doesn't look too good, what happened?"

"Dad said he needs to see you; he's talking to the police."

"Okay, keep his head between his knees, and if he gets any worse come and get me immediately." Tomoyo nodded and her mother marched off to talk to her husband. Tomoyo knelt next to me, as I tried to calm myself down and reorganise my thoughts

'Was it child abuse?' I'd never really thought about it that way, but it fits the definition. I have no idea how long I sat like that before I felt a hand on the back of my head.

"It sounds like you've had it rough for a while, don't worry, we'll straighten it all out." The way she gently stroked my hair was remarkably comforting. "Presumably this isn't why you brought him here, so why did you decide to introduce us all of a sudden." Tomoyo gave her mother the whole story, right up to me trying to break up with her and her plan to get me back on track. "Well at least we know he's got his priorities right."

"Excuse me?"

"Back with us, are you? I'm Tomoyo's mother, you can call me Kadee-san, and what I mean is, you put Tomoyo's interests ahead of your own happiness. You still look a bit pale, when did you last eat?"

"Huh? Oh, umm, we had an ice-cream before we left school."

"Okay, you'd be best waiting to do the IQ test, I don't think it would do him much justice today. We'll have a talk with the school once we know what the police are doing. It should help to persuade them to fall in line with your plan once they know what's been going on."

Fujita-san walked back into the room as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"You alright son?"

"I think so, thank you."

"Any idea why it hit you so hard all of a sudden?"

"I guess it's just never occurred to me that it was child abuse, I just thought it was an argument but..."

"Argument or no argument it's abuse, where's your mother in all this?"

"She died when I was little."

"Sorry to hear that, what does your father do?"

"Drinks and gambles mostly, I think he used to do something in an office, but I'm not sure, I've been doing my best to avoid him for a few years."

"So, you've basically been left to raise yourself for some time now have you?"

"Yeah, something like that." Tomoyo told him what she had told her mother.

"Hmm, Well, we'll make it happen one way or another. The police are coming to get a statement off you, are you up to that, or do you need a bit more time to get your head straight?"

"No, I'm fine, it was just a bit of a shock I guess."

"Well, you're resilient, I'll give you that much." The police arrived about half an hour later, we ran through the incident with my shoulder and what life was actually like, Tomoyo look horrified as I gave the officer my statement.

"First, we need get you into foster care, we can't leave you in that situation…"

"We've got a spare room here." Kadee-san interrupted the officer's explanation.

"Okay, we'll need to file the paperwork to make it official, but that's satisfactory. Will your father be at home?"

"Err, yes I think so, but he may not be conscious." The officer frowned at my admission.

"Do you have a door key?"

"Yeah."

"If I can borrow your key, it saves us having to force entry. Your father will be charged with child abuse and neglect, if he's drunk, we'll have to hold him in a cell overnight. Once that's underway one of my colleagues will come and take you to get anything you're going to need for the next few days, schoolbooks, clothes and so on. You don't need to try and bring everything right away.

You'll be assigned a social worker, who'll keep an eye on you. They're there to help you, so if there's anything you need just ask them, they will need to have a meeting with your school pretty soon as well, just to see if you need any help with your studies. I think that's everything for now, you're on my case load now so any dealings with the police will be through me. Depending on how cooperative your father is we'll pick you up in the next hour to get your stuff. Any questions?"

"No, not for now, thank you." He handed a business card to Fujita-san and left to go and arrest my father. As soon as the door shut behind him the head of a youngish boy poked into the room.

"Have they gone? Is this Onee-chan's boyfriend? Is he in trouble or something?"

"Yes, they have, yes he is and no, but he does need our help." He must ask questions all at once a lot. "Come here and say hello, he's going to be staying here for a while."

"Tomoya, this is my brother Takafumi. Takafumi this is Tomoya."

"Nice to meet you." He looked like he was about to ask what was going on but Tomoyo gave him a glare that would have blistered paint, so he thought better of it.

It was only about twenty minutes before the police came to take me to get my stuff, so my father was either cooperative or totally unconscious, Fujita-san had to come with us, because he's technically my guardian now and the police needed someone to be with me. He had a look of disgust on his face when he saw the mess in the living room where my father had been found; after that he maintained an angry scowl. Tomoyo appeared out of the front door as soon as the car pulled up at her house.

"Tomoyo, would you take Tomoya-san and get him settled in the spare room please? Your mother and I will be up in a bit." Tomoyo nodded and led me up the stairs to the spare room. Once we got there, she put down the bag she'd taken off me and hugged me.

"I'm sorry Tomoya, I didn't know it was that bad."

"You don't need to apologise; you can't be expected to know things like that unless I tell you." There was a knock on the door, we hadn't closed it so I think they were trying to be considerate.

"Pardon the interruption, but we need to talk to the pair of you. Given what I have just seen, I believe that your father will be unlikely to be released any time soon." He paused for a moment to let it sink in that I was unlikely to be going back there to live again. "Don't worry what ever happens with your father you'll be welcome to stay here for as long as you need to, provided you can stick to a few ground rules of course." I couldn't quite wrap my head around what I had just been told, he'd only just met me; granter he'd just heard my life story, but still. "The first rule is, you two don't get up to anything you wouldn't want us to see you doing, I don't have a problem with kissing, but anything else is off the menu. Second, we'll make the arrangements to get you a chance to straighten out your studies, but you will have to study hard to make a go of it. Lastly, we will give you a few chores to do around the house, and in return we will give you an allowance. Any questions?"

"Just one, why? You only met me a few hours ago."

"I know I haven't been the best father in the world, but nobody should have to deal with what's been thrown your way, much less someone so young. And I've seen how happy you've made Tomoyo, she can be a handful granted, but I'd give my right arm to keep that smile on her face. Plus, I already know that you have your priorities right when it comes to her. Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah… Thank you."

"Keep my daughter happy and your studies on track and that'll be thanks enough."

The room was nice, and the bed was comfortable, but sleep didn't come easily that night. So, when the curtains were flung open in the morning, I was less than enthusiastic about getting up.

"I'm sorry Tomoya, but it's time to get up."

*Groan*

"I let you sleep as long as I could but, you'll be late if don't get up now."

"Alright, alright I'm moving, honest."

"Then you're moving very slowly."

"Yeah, that." The covers were removed from the bed.

"I'm really sorry but, you've got to get up."

*groan* "yeah, alright, thanks." With a great deal of effort, I managed to haul myself upright. I was rewarded by a kiss on the forehead.

"I've made you some coffee and some rice balls you can have on the way to school."

"Thanks, I'll be out in a minute."

We didn't talk much on the way to school, but that was partly because I was busy cramming rice balls and coffee down my throat.

"Dad said the police will be coming to talk to the school at lunch time today, I need to talk to the rest of the student council, I'll keep it a vague as I can, just that you, need a bit a compassion and understanding. But that means I won't be able to come and see you before the meeting."

"Okay, thanks, I'll see you later." With Tomoyo off to her own class I was left to stagger over to my desk.

"Okazaki-kun, are you okay? You don't look very well."

"Kind of a rough night, but I'll be alright, thanks for asking."

"I'm sorry to hear that, i-if there's anything I can do?"

"Thanks Fujibayashi but Tomoyo's pretty much got the situation covered, but if you could keep your sister off my back, I'd appreciate it."

"Oh, of course, I'll do my best."

'Did she sound disappointed or was it my imagination?'

Walking into the head's office with a police officer, in the middle of lunch break drew a lot of attention. The meeting sort of happened around me really, I was a little too out of it, but I did notice Tomoyo taking a lot of notes. However, I did manage to hear that my father had been charged with neglect and abuse and had admitted to the latter, but his defence on the former was "Tomoya-kun is, Tomoya-kun." Basically, I was my own man, so it didn't matter.

Once we left the office Tomoyo asked how much I was happy for people to hear about the situation, they had to be told something or they'd come up with something themselves. As far as I was concerned, they could be told everything, I didn't have anything to hide. She was a bit dubious but agreed. Gossip being what it is in school, I was watched very closely as I walked back into the classroom, unfortunately Kyou was in the room.

"What have you been up to? I hear the police where here."

"Onee-chan…" Fujibayashi's attempt to stop Kyou was a bit futile really.

"I haven't done anything; my father was arrested last night." Everyone in the room was now silent and staring my direction.

"W-what for?" Even Kyou was flustered.

"Child abuse." Kyou's eyes just about popped out.

"H-He… you…"

"He broke my shoulder, that's why I stopped playing basketball, I can't lift my arm properly anymore." Everyone was stunned into silence. Nobody moved until the teacher entered the room.

"Alright everyone back to your desks, he's not a museum exhibit, Okazaki, could I have a word with you please?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I've just spoken to the Head teacher."

"I figured."

"On Friday afternoon, your social worker is going to come for a meeting, if you need anything before that, just ask."

"Yeah, thanks." I made my way back to my desk, but Kyou stopped me. "What?"

"Tomoya… I'm sorry… if… if I can do anything to help…"

"Yeah." Ten minutes after that Sunohara flopped down at his desk.

"I heard you got arrested."

"Nope." Sunohara was suddenly faced with a room full of death glares.

"Woah, what's going on?" Fujibayashi scampered over and whispered something to him. "What? Really?" Fujibayashi scuttled back to her desk after giving me an apologetic look. "So…"

"Yeah."

"Sorry man."

"Yeah." He shrugged, put his head on his arms and went to sleep.

At the end of the day, Tomoyo appeared at the door of the classroom.

"Tomoya, I'm sorry but I have a council meeting, it'll be about half an hour if you want to wait."

"Alright I'll wait for you at the gate."

"Okay."

As I headed, for the gate I was followed by a lot of staring eyes. While I waited for Tomoyo a pair of feet appeared in my eye line, it was the guy that, kept telling me I wasn't good enough for Tomoyo.

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologise; I didn't know about your situation."

"No, you just made assumptions and told me I wasn't good enough, didn't you?"

"To be fair…"

"To be fair I really don't care, I'm running on two hours sleep, coffee and a really crappy night, so really don't have the patience to deal with you right now."

"Of course." The feet went away, and I was left in peace again.

"What did he want with you?" Tomoyo stood next to me.

"He was making a piss poor attempt at an apology."

"What does he have to apologise for?"

"Telling me I wasn't good enough for you."

"He what?" Tomoyo was practically trembling with rage.

"Relax, he's not worth it."

"Well I know who's getting all the jobs nobody wants to do for the rest of the year. Come on, let's go home."

"Yeah."

"How was it in class this afternoon?"

"Quiet."

"Didn't anyone ask about the police visiting."

"Kyou did, but I told her why he was here, that shut them up pretty quick."

"It would be her wouldn't it."

"Yeah. She did apologise though."

"Really? Wow."

"Everyone was really nice actually, felt kind of creepy."

"Well I'm glad, not the creepy bit but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Oh, my teacher said the social worker is coming to the school on Friday afternoon."

"Did he say what time?"  
"No, just afternoon."

"We'll get more detail beforehand I presume."

"Yeah, I got the impression that they'd come and see me before the meeting with the school, I'm sure your folks will have something to say on the subject."

"Yes, Mom was quite worried about you last night."

"Really?"

"Yes, why is that so surprising?"

"I only met them last night for one thing, I guess I've got so used to not having anything resembling a parent around, so it all feels a bit alien at the moment."

"I'm sure it does, from what you told the police, you pretty much had to raise yourself from about ten."

"More or less I guess, but I think it reached a head when we had that argument."

"If you don't mind my asking, what was the argument about? You don't have to answer if it's too personal or…"

"No, it's fine, I'm not sure I remember the detail that well, but I think it was something to do with playing basketball."

"You should probably tell Dad that."

"Why?"

"It makes it sound deliberate."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"You get into an argument about playing basketball and end up with an injury that stops you playing, it seems a little too convenient." For the second time in as many days, my understanding of what actually happened was flipped on it's head. Much like last time I suddenly felt lightheaded. "Tomoya, are you okay, you look really pale."

"I feel like I might throw up to be honest." I leaned against a wall as I tried to focus my reeling mind.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't think, I should have known it would affect you, after what happened last night. Do you want me to get Mom were almost home, so…"?

"No, no, just give me a minute… was it deliberate? Is he really that bad?" Tomoyo ducked under my arm and supported me as we walked the rest of the way to her house.

Tomoyo's mom appeared before we even got through the gate.

"Is he okay, what happened?"

"I… we, think it may have been deliberate." Her eyes widened in shock. "The argument was about Tomoya playing basketball. We were talking and it dawned on me, I shouldn't have said anything, I just wasn't thinking."

"Okay, let's get him inside."

Everything was just happening around me again really. Before I really managed to process what was happening, I was in the same position as last night, with a very worried looking Tomoyo kneeling down next to me and holding my hand. I'm not sure how long I was like that, but the fog began to lift, and I became aware there was an extra person in the room. Still feeling a little queasy I looked up to see a row of concerned faces.

"You alright son?" Tomoyo's Dad had appeared at some point, along with someone I didn't recognise.

"Yeah, I think so, just a bit queasy. I'll be okay."

"Alright, this is Mitzaki-san she's your social worker."

"Hello Tomoya-kun, it's good to meet you, when you're ready, we need to go through what's going to happen from here."

"Can we not do the whole kun thing, that's what my dad keeps calling me so…"

"Of course, I hear you have had something of a realisation regarding your shoulder injury."

"Well, maybe… I'm not sure of the details but, the argument that lead to my shoulder being broken was about me playing basketball."

"I'll have t pass that on to officer Sato."

"Who?"

"The officer who took your statement last night."

"Oh, right, I didn't catch his name."

"Not surprising given the circumstances. The foster care paperwork has been filed, so you're officially under the care of the Sakagamis, so you don't have to worry about that, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"I spoke with your father this afternoon, initially he seems quite affable."

"Yeah, everyone says that."

"What struck me the most about him is how calm he is, even though he's been arrested and is facing prison time, it was almost like I'd dropped in for tea. And anything to do with his lack of care toward you, he just says you're independent, so you didn't need his help. How he can be so oblivious is quite beyond me."

"Yeah, that's him alright. He's been that way since he broke my shoulder, even after we had just been told the limitations it put on my range of motion." Mitzaki-san made some notes in the file she was holding. "So, what happens now?"

"Sakagami-san told me about the idea Tomoyo-chan came up with to help you with your grades. Are you happy to go ahead with that plan?"

"Yeah, it sounded more or less ideal to me."

"I'll inform the school at our meeting on Friday. The meeting is at two pm so you'll be called out of class, officer Sato and Sakagami-san will be there as well."

"Umm, excuse me?"

"Yes, Tomoyo-chan?"

"Would it be okay if I was there as well?" Mitzaki-san glanced over at Tomoyo's Dad, who simply nodded.

"Very well, Tomoyo-chan, we will call you out of class as well then."

"Thank you."

"Tomoya-san, so you understand how things work with foster care, the Sakagamis will be paid monthly to cover any out of pocket expenses, this includes an allowance for yourself, if any larger expenses arise, they will be covered as well, Sakagami-san is now legally responsible for you, so anything related to your schooling will require their consent, as will any legal matters, your fathers court case for example. Do you have any questions?"

"Will I have to see my dad at any point?"

"No, given the nature of the charges filed against him, any communication in that regard will come through an intermediary, in practice this will be Sakagami-san, myself or officer Sato, and should you be required to give any evidence or testimony in court, it will be done remotely, so you'll never actually be in the same room."

"Great, thanks."

"You'll get all the support you need, so if anything comes up, let myself or Sakagami-san know. You will be referred to a therapist for an assessment, depending on the findings, you may have to attend therapy sessions for a while. Was there anything else you wanted to ask about?"

"No, that's it for now."

"Then I'll leave you in Tomoyo-chan's care while I speak with Sakagami-san. Unless anything else comes up, I will see you Friday afternoon." Everyone except Tomoyo went through to the lounge.

"This whole mess just keeps getting worse doesn't it."

"I know, but you don't ever have to see him again, and I'm here if you need me."

"I know; I appreciate it, I really do." Tomoyo smiled and squeezed my hand.

"Come on, let's find you some food."

"Tomoya… Tomoya." A familiar voice woke me as usual.

"What time is it?"

"It's six o'clock."

"Huh?"

"I've got council meetings before school, but I wanted to see if you were okay before I left."

"when do you have to leave?"

"In about twenty minutes."

"Alright, I'll come with you."

"You will? You can go back to sleep if you want."

"I know, but I'd rather walk with you than just, me and my thoughts." Tomoyo gave me a slightly concerned look. "Don't worry, I'll be alright."

"If you say so, I'll make you some coffee."

"Thanks." On the way to school we chatted like always, about anything but the situation with my dad. When we had parted ways, I slumped over my desk, and went back to sleep.

"Tomoya… Tomoya, you awake?"

"Tomoyo?" Bleary eyed I looked around but didn't see Tomoyo anywhere.

"No, it's me… Kyou."

"Right, sorry… I'm a little out of it."

"I'm not surprised, are you okay?"

"Not really… but I'm getting there, thanks for asking though."

"Well, if… if there's anything you need…" Kyou's voice trailed off.

"Thanks, but Tomoyo and her folks have pretty much got it covered for now."

"Oh… they're helping you, are they?"

"Yeah, they've taken me into foster care, so I'm living there from now on, they've been dealing with the police and the social worker, as well."

"Oh, that's good of them."

"Yeah, especially as they only met me the other day. Did you need me for anything?"

"No… We, I mean Ryou was worried about you so…" It was only then that I noticed that Fujibayashi was behind her sister.

"Sorry Fujibayashi, I didn't see you there."

"T-that's okay, I'm sure you have a lot on your mind."

"You can say that again. What time is it?"

"It's eight o'clock, what time did you get here?"

"Quarter to seven, something like that."

"What made you come so early?"  
"Oh, Tomoyo had an early council thing, so it was the only way we could walk here together. Plus, it meant I didn't have to put up with all the staring on my way in."

"D-do you know what's going to happen to your…" Fujibayashi had moved a little closer, unusual for her but then again, the circumstances aren't what you'd call normal.

"He's looking at least six years, but apparently I won't ever have to see the bastard again, so that's a bonus."

"Good, just shout if you need anything, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Kyou." She smiled and left the classroom, presumably she had to back to her own class.

"Umm, I… I b-brought y-you some coffee, I thought you would be tired so…" Fujibayashi, placed a thermos flask on the desk in front of me.

"Thanks, you're a life saver." She blushed and scampered off to her own desk. Most of the class had been watching our exchange for some reason, but most of them looked away again when I looked their way.

"Okazaki, could I see you for a moment." I hadn't registered that our teacher had even entered the room.

"Yeah, sure." We stepped out into the hallway.

"I wasn't sure I'd see you here today."

"Better to be here, than sitting around thinking."

"Alright, if you need a breather at all, just say so."

"There is one minor thing, Fujibayashi was kind enough the bring me some coffee, would it be alright if I drank it now rather than recess? I haven't really been sleeping too well."

"That was considerate of her, I'll allow it today, but don't make a habit of it."

"Thank you, sensei."

I doubt I would have made it as far as lunch time had it not been for Fujibayashi's coffee, I was about to go and find some more, when Tomoyo arrived.

"Oh, hey, I thought you'd be tied up with council stuff."

"I've got your friend dealing with that today."

"Friend…? You mean what's his name, from yesterday."

"Yeah, I thought he was going to wet himself when I 'had words' with him about his conduct."

"I'd have paid to see that."

"I can try and arrange it if you like." Tomoyo could always manage to cheer me up.

"Save it for a rainy day, I don't know about you, but I need some coffee."

"I hope you can get some proper sleep tonight; it isn't healthy living on coffee like this."

"Barring any more revelations, I'll probably be out the second my head hits the pillow tonight."

"I hope so, you're starting to look quite ill."

"I know, but my mind has just been running around in circles the last couple of nights."

"Well, after Friday hopefully things will calm down a bit, and you can feel a bit more settled, with everything as up in the air as it is at the moment, I'm amazed you're dealing with it as well as you are."

"I don't really know how much of it I'm really processing at the moment, but I was surprised at how much of a relief being told I wouldn't have to see him again was."

"Hmm, maybe seeing the therapist for a while would be a good idea."

"Maybe… I don't know, it'd feel a bit weird talking about stuff like that with a stranger."

"Well you've got to see them at least once anyway, so see how you feel about it then; and if you do need to talk, I'll always be here for you."

"I know, thanks."

Mercifully there weren't any more revelations that night, but I'm pretty sure Tomoyo was avoiding the subject just in case. So, for the first time, I got to experience a "Normal" evening in the Sakagami household. I did run the IQ test program on Takafumi's computer before dinner, the result produced a smug "I told you so" from Tomoyo, it came up with an IQ of 140; but I'm a bit sceptical, I don't know much about computers, so it's hard to put and faith in what it came up with. Tomoyo insisted that Mitzaki-san was informed, what good it'll do I don't know but once Tomoyo has an idea in her head, you aren't going to get her to drop it.

Friday rolled around, our judgement day. Mitzaki-san had said she'd make it happen, but as of yet I have no clue if she can do any of what she says she can.

"Okazaki, you'd better get going to your meeting."

"Right, thank you sensei."

"Meeting? What meeting?" Sunohara raised his head off his arms.

"I hadn't realised you were even here. It's stuff to do with my dad."

"Right, good luck."

"Thanks."

"Tomoya, are you ready?"

"Sakagami-chan, you're going to the meeting with him, are you?"

"Yes, sensei, I couldn't let him go through all of this alone."

"Your loyalty is quite commendable, but you must think about your own studies as well."

"I keep telling her that myself. We had best be going, we wouldn't want to be late." I could already see Tomoyo getting annoyed at my teacher, so I figured it was best to get her moving. "You probably shouldn't growl at the teachers."

"I know but it annoys me when they keep telling me I should think of myself first, and you second."

"It'll take time for them to come around and stop seeing me as the guy that's holding you back. If they ever do. That and you're much prettier without the scowl." Tomoyo has a real weak spot for being called pretty, cute or anything girly really, so she's really easy to cheer up.

"Thank you Tomoya." She looks really, really cute when she blushes like she is now.

"Tomoya-san, Tomoyo-chan, nice and punctual, that's what I like to see."

"Mitzaki-san I assumed you would already be in talking to the head."

"It's a team effort Tomoya-san." I'm not quite sure what she meant by that but, that's just the way she is I guess.

"Let's get this over with."

"You aren't here because you've done something wrong Tomoya-san."

"I guess I'm just used to only being called here when I'm in trouble."

"Those days are behind you now Tomoya."

"Tomoyo-chan is right Tomoya-san, everyone that is going to be in that room is there to help you."

"Doesn't stop it feeling weird unfortunately. Do you really think they'll go for Tomoyo's plan?"

"They won't really have much option. Between your IQ, recent improvements in test scores and attendance, they'd have a hard time justifying a refusal."

"I'm not so sure the IQ thing is accurate to be honest."

"The program you used is the same one the school will use."

"Oh… so it's actually accurate?"

"I suspect your score will improve when you take it again."

"Why do I have to take it again if it's accurate?"

"For the schools records and so they can give you the most appropriate assistance."

"Makes sense I guess."

"Sorry I'm late, I got held up at the office."

"Don't worry Sakagami-san, the head teacher isn't ready yet either."

"Well that's a relief, you okay Tomoya-san, you're looking a bit less like a zombie at least."

"I'm fine, thanks, I managed to sleep a bit better last night so I'm a little more with it today."

"Well it's a start at least, do you have any questions before we go in?"

"No, Mitzaki-san has explained everything, thank you."

"Good, is officer Sato not here yet?"

"He's speaking to the head at the moment."

"Should we not be party to that conversation?"

"He's just bringing him up to speed on the legal situation, I don't feel that Tomoya-san would benefit from being reminded of everything he's already had to deal with."

"I see your point." Around ten minuets later the secretary opened the door and ushered us all into the head teacher's office.

"Okazaki, I'm very sorry to hear about your circumstances, I wish we had heard about it sooner."

"I appreciate the thought, but the only reason you're hearing about it now is because someone bothered to ask 'why' rather than writing me off as a delinquent."

"I'm not convinced it is that simple."

"I would have to disagree, my daughter asked if Tomoya-san could use our house to study, all I asked is why can't he do that at home, had your staff asked why a previously promising sports man and apparently diligent student suddenly stopped playing the sport that got him into the school, and now barely showed up to class, Tomoya-san could have been free from an abusive father two years earlier." Sakagami-san looked more than a little annoyed at the head's evasive answer; the head looked a bit startled at being corrected so comprehensively.

"Officer Sato tells me that…"

"We are aware of officer Sato's findings, the reason he met with you separately to inform you was so that Tomoya-san was not forced to be reminded of such traumatic events." It was Mitzaki-san's turn to be annoyed.

"You are correct of course, shall we discus where we go from here?"

"Very well," Mitzaki-san looked far from satisfied with the head's response. "Tomoyo-chan has suggested a practical solution to correcting Tomoya-san's academic standing."

"Has she really? Well she is one of our most promising students."

"I'm glad we can agree on something, although Tomoya-san's IQ exceeds Tomoyo-chan's by fifteen points, and that was when he was still sleep deprived."

"Is that so? We will have to confirm that ourselves of course. What was the solution Tomoyo-san suggested?"

"Her recommendation, and mine as well, is to put Tomoya-san down a year now and allow him to retake his first-year exams during this year."

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you that such an action is highly irregular, and our second-year classes are all quite full already."

"There has been an empty desk in my class all year."

"I can get a court order if need be, but if that were the case, I would be compelled to carry out an audit of your child protection policies; you have already failed in your duty of care to Tomoya-san and I have no intention to allow you to fail any other students."

"I am merely trying to be mindful of any disruption to the other students in the respective classes."

"I fail to see what possible disruption his relocation is going to cause, Tomoya-san's record shows he has shown some aggression, but has never been proven to be violent, and a large proportion of that aggression can easily be explained as a sleep deprived, abused and marginalised young man's response to a teaching staff that has largely given up on him; this will be happening, whether it requires your removal from the position of head teacher or not is entirely up to you." The head paled as Mitzaki-san made her statement in a smooth but stern tone of voice. Personally, I was finding it difficult not to smile as the head teacher squirmed.

"That will not be necessary, I will make the arrangements, Tomoya-san you will start in your new class on Monday morning, and will consider you to be starting on a clean slate regarding your attendance; I will make arrangements with Komura-sensei for your resitting of the first-year exams he will apprise you of the details."

"Thank you, sensei."

"Is there anything else you wish to discuss Mitzaki-san?"

"Not at this time no, however some of my colleagues will be in touch to carry out a review of your school records, I would very much like to know how many more students have been allowed to slip through the cracks." With that Mitzaki-san stood up and motioned for us to leave. She gave him a particularly icy glare as we left.

"The nerve of the man, honestly I'll be surprised if he keeps his job." Mitzaki-san was still fuming as we stepped out into the courtyard.

"That was awesome, thank you Mitzaki-san." Unable to contain my mirth any longer I couldn't help but laugh at the face the head had made when Mitzaki-san chewed him out.

"You are quite welcome Tomoya-san, I had not expected to be quite so wrong when I told you that everyone in the meeting was there to help you."

"I'll admit he got under my skin a bit as well, I may take a look and see if he has anything like outstanding parking tickets or something." Officer Sato had been silent throughout the meeting, but most of it was outside his purview.

"I believe I'll bring up his attitude at the next parents association meeting, you two should get yourselves back to class for homeroom, I'll hang on here and give you a lift home." As instructed Tomoyo and I headed back to our classrooms.

"Okazaki, I was beginning to wonder if you'd make it back today, how did your meeting with the head go?"

"That depends of who you ask, the outcome was what we were hoping for, but we weren't expecting him to be quite so resistant."

"Sounds like an interesting meeting, I'll check in with him later. Take your seat, we won't be here too much longer." Sunohara leaned over to me as I sat down.

"So, what was all that about?"

"I'll tell you after. I'll just end up having to repeat myself." After homeroom finished Fujibayashi and Kyou walked over to my desk.

"Okazaki-kun, did everything go okay?"

"Yes, it did thanks for asking Fujibayashi, I got to watch the head getting chewed out, so it was worth it." Fujibayashi was at a loss for words.

"Seriously? The head got chewed out?"

"Yeah, he managed to piss off the social worker, so there's going to be a full review of the school records to see if anyone else should have been helped but wasn't. So, you'll probably get a visit from a social worker too."

"Me? Why would they want to talk to me?"

"Your school record isn't that different to mine, so figure they want to check the school isn't just doing the same as they did with me. Don't worry though, they'll soon work out you're just goofing off and leave you alone."

"You trying to make out you're better than me or something?"

"no, but turns out my IQ is pretty high."

"You, a high IQ yeah right, what is it then." Kyou was definitely not going to believe me.

"140 according to the test thing I did, but I'm told that it should be higher than that because I hadn't slept much when I took the test."

"I don't think those stupid test things on Facebook count." Told you she wouldn't believe me.

"It was the same program schools use, so I'm told it would be accurate."

"Okazaki-kun, that's wonderful news."

"Y-yeah, good for you." Kyou was stunned. "So, what's going to happen now, are you going to get extra lessons or something?"

"Sort of, I'm actually being moved down a year, and I will get extra homework and lessons so I can retake my first-year exams too."

"You're what!" Sunohara sprang to his feet, unfortunately for him it made Kyou jump and she elbowed him in the face, making him drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"You're really being move to a different class?" Fujibayashi looked a little teary eyed.

"Yeah, it's my best chance to undo all of the damage my dad did to my life."

"But we can still come and see you, can't we?" Even Kyou was looking a bit upset for some reason.

"I don't see why not."

"Do you know what class you're going to?" Kyou still looked really uncomfortable.

"I'm going to be in 2-B with Tomoyo."

"Oh, so _she _will be there as well will she." That's weird response.

"Yeah, something wrong with that?"

"No, it's nothing."

"If you say so, anyway, tomorrow is going to be my last day in this class."

"But what about your friends?"

"But Kyou already said she'd come and visit."

"I meant me!"

"Sorry."

"Fine!" Sunohara stomped off out of the classroom, he and Tomoyo arrived at the door at the same time from opposite directions. "It's all your fault!" Sunohara made the mistake of thrusting a finger at Tomoyo, a heartbeat later he was lying on the floor ten feet away, with a footprint on his forehead.

"What was my fault?"

*Groan*

"Tomoya, do you know what he was talking about?"

"Not sure, could be pms."

"So, I hear you're stealing Tomoya away from us." Kyou stood next to me with her arms folded across her chest, and an icy glare on her face.

"Saying I'm stealing him would suggest you are under the mistaken belief he was yours in the first place."

"Why you…"

"Onee-chan, it really is what's best for Okazaki-kun."

"Fine!" Kyou stomped off with her sister trailing behind.

"What was that all about?"

"You really don't know?"

"Not a clue."

"Tomoya, I love you dearly, but you really are oblivious sometimes."

"I love you too, but I still don't know what you're on about."

"They're in love with you."

"They who?" Tomoyo raised an eyebrow. "You mean…"

"Yes."

"Both of them?"

"Yes."

"Wow, I did not see that coming."

"So, you've never considered them romantically?"

"Good God no, Kyou's a psychopath and Fujibayashi's a hamster, her head would explode if you so much as laid a finger on her."

"But you're okay with me?"

"Yeah, of course, you're beautiful, smart, determined, feminine and really cute when you blush."

"You think I'm feminine?"

"Well yeah, the way you move is so graceful, and the way you brush your hair over your ear always makes my heart flutter."

"You really think that?"

"Yeah."

"Well thank you." Tomoyo's usually stoic expression, softened into a smile and she blushed slightly. "We should get going, Dad is waiting for us."

"You really are cute you know." Tomoyo went a bit pinker and took my hand, leading me out to the car park.

"Hello you two, you look happy."

"Just relieved to know what's happening from here."

"Good to know, but that doesn't explain why my daughter is blushing; but I suspect that I'm best leaving that one alone. I was talking to Mitzaki-san about this Komura-sensei, do you know him at all?"

"Yeah, he was my homeroom teacher in my first year, is there a problem?"

"Not as such no, Mitzaki-san speaks very highly of him."

"Yeah, I doubt I'd still be in school if it wasn't for him."

"Really? Well that's good to know, Mitzaki-san was hoping he'd mentor you, but he's retiring at the end of the year."

"That's a real shame, he's basically the only teacher here that ever gave a damn about me."

"Hmm, would you object if we went to see if we can talk to him before we go?"

"Fine with me." We headed back the way we came. We managed to get to the office just before Komura left.

"Komura-sensei, I've heard a great deal about you."

"Hmmm, nothing bad I hope."

"Quite the opposite; are you aware of Tomoya-san's situation?"

"I am indeed, I very much regret that we didn't catch it earlier."

"Would you have any opinions on why it wasn't?"

"I believe the reporting process is flawed, I made my concerns known, but once the repot is made, further action is out of my hands."

"Did you suspect abuse in his first year?"

"No, there were none of the usual indicators, but I was concerned with his mental state."

"Alright, Tomoya-san's social worker was hoping that you would act as a mentor for Tomoya-san, but I understand you are retiring at the end of the year."

"That is my intention, yes."

"Could you be persuaded to reconsider? Tomoya-san tells me you are the only teacher at the school that ever made an effort to help him." Komura-sensei studied me closely.

"I do not believe Tomoya-san will require my help beyond this year."

"What makes you say that?"

"Now you are free of your father's influence, I believe you will be an exceptional student, but without the challenges that have held you back so far, you will not require exceptional guidance."

"I don't know… would you at least hold off on making a decision until we see how this year goes?"

"Hmmm….. very well, I will reserve judgment for a while."

"Thank you, sensei."

I was sceptical to begin with, but what he said does make a certain amount of sense; but this year was definitely going to be difficult, extra classes, extra exams and a heck of a lot of extra stress. But for now all I could do was take one thing at a time.

Tomoyo and I spent most of the evening huddled up over the dinning room table, as I tried to get up to speed with the classes I would be taking on Monday; surprisingly I remembered more of the material from last year than I thought I had learned in the first place.

Living in the same house as Tomoyo definitely had its compensations, but then again, it had its down sides too.

"Are you sure you're okay to continue?"

"Yeah, I'm fine thank you."

"Really, you're not just saying that, so I don't worry?"

"Tomoyo, I'm fine, really."

"I really don't mind if you'd rather take a break."

"Tomoyo, I love you to bits, but you are being a bit overprotective right now. I need you to ease off a bit." Tomoyo looked despondent. "Look, I know you're doing it because you love me, and with everything that's happening you're really worried, but I'm honestly fine."

"Really? You are sure?"

"I'm free from my dad, I'm getting the chance to fix my exam scores and better still I get to live in the same house as you, what could possibly be wrong?"

"Well, as long as you're sure, but you'll tell me if that changes?"

"You'd be the first person I'd turn to; so can we keep studying for a bit longer?"

"Okay."

With that settled, we returned to our books, I slept better that night than I think I have in years, although it did make getting out of bed that much harder, especially as Tomoyo had council business in the morning again, I decided I'd rather walk in with her again, I can always sleep on my desk again anyway.

I was woken up by a soft thunk on the desk and a whiff of coffee.

"I-I'm sorry Okazaki-kun I-I didn't mean to wake you, I just though you would like some coffee again so…" I stretched and blinked the sleep from my eyes.

"Thanks Fujibayashi, that's really thoughtful of you." She blushed, further reinforcing Tomoyo's assessment from the previous day.

"Oh, y-you are very welcome, y-you seem much better than yesterday."

"Yeah, I slept like a log last night, I think just knowing where I stand and what's happening next made all the difference. Knowing that I won't have to see my dad ever again helps too."

"I'm glad to here you are doing better, we were very worried, you looked so ill." Fujibayashi blushed at her own admission. "It won't be the same when you move classes."

"I appreciate that, thank you, you can always come and say hello, any time you like."

"R-really?"

"Yeah, of course, you and Kyou were the only people other than Sunohara that would talk to me. You and your sister are basically the only friends I've had since I came to this school."

"R-Really, y-you think of me as a f-friend?"

"Yeah, I really do. And thanks again for the coffee." Fujibayashi smiled, turned bright red and trotted off to her own desk.

The rest of the morning went by uneventfully, until Sunohara stomped in just in time for home room to start at the end of the day.

"Why the hell are you even here for, isn't it a bit pointless turning up now?"

"I know, one of your social workers set up a meeting, they even called my parents."

"They're not my social workers, there's one that has been assigned to me, but the rest are investigating the school."

"Whatever… it's not like you care anyway, you're leaving after today anyway."

"Look for what it's worth, I am grateful, if you hadn't let me hang out in your dorm, I don't know where else I could have gone to avoid my dad. So, thank you." Sunohara stared at me as if waiting for the punch line.

"Yeah… sure…"

"A word of advice, don't just dismiss the social worker, they may actually be able to help you."

"Right… You alright man? You're talking weird."

"I feel better than I have in years." Sunohara eyed me suspiciously.

"Really…?"

"Really."

"So, what are you doing now, do you want to hit the arcade?"

"I've got to go see Komura about how my resit exams and extra lessons are going to work. Besides, don't you have an appointment anyway?"

"Yeah, but I was thinking of blowing it off."

"Good to know you really took on board my advice. Plus, they aren't going to just go away because you blow them off." Sunohara just grunted and slumped over his desk.

"Good afternoon Tomoya-san… you are looking much more rested today… "

"Yeah, I guess I was more affected by the situation than I thought. I didn't expect to be so relieved."

"indeed… I am pleased to hear it… shall we discuss your extra lessons shall me."

"Right, so how are we going to work in the extra study?"

"I will be giving you additional lessons during club times three times a week, and Saturday afternoons… once I am content that you are capable of passing the exams… we will begin taking them during the Saturday sessions… "

"Sounds reasonable, when do we start?"

"I will allow you this afternoon off… we can commence our lessons on Monday… it will be a difficult time for you… if the schedule combined with the pressure of the court case prove too much, we may have to adjust the timetable… "

"Thank you, sensei, I'll do my best."

"I have no doubt you will, you have a reason to work hard this time."

"Yeah, I do." So that would be my fate for the coming year, study, study and more study.


	2. Chapter 2 – New Beginnings and Old Probl

**Chapter 2 – New Beginnings and Old Problems**

Stepping out of the office I was presented with a smiling face, shuffling out of the office behind me, Komura looked at Tomoyo, then turned to me and smiled.

"It seems your reason is already here." He didn't wait for a response or say anything else, he simply shuffled off down the corridor.

"Reason? What did he mean by that?"

"He had just been telling me that he thought I had a good reason to study hard from here on." Confusion briefly passed across Tomoyo's face, but it was quickly replaced by a coy smile.

"I see." She blushed slightly and brushed some stray hair over her ear, I have no idea why, but I always found that motion to have a certain allure to it. "Shall we go home."

"Don't you have any meetings or anything today?"

"No, they have been concluded for today."

"I don't want to sound ungrateful, but it feels like you've been blowing off a lot of meetings lately."

"You needn't worry Tomoya, many of the council members have been very helpful and supportive."

"Really?"

"Yes, the girls on the council have been especially helpful."

"I don't follow."

"I should probably find it reassuring how oblivious you are."

"Huh?"

"You are far more popular with the girls than you realise; you are tall, handsome and you've got a bit of a bad boy image, and after they heard what you tried to do for me, they know you are very loyal as well."

"Really?"

"Even more so now that your troubled past has come to light."

"Why would that make a difference?"

"A girl likes to have someone to care for."

"This is the complicated maidens heart thing again is it?"

"That's right." Smiling brightly, Tomoyo hooked her arm through mine and started walking. "Was everything okay today?"

"Yeah, it was fine, Fujibayashi seemed a bit sad to see me leaving the class though, she may end up coming to visit from time to time; Sunohara has been called in to talk to a social worker this afternoon, so he wasn't too happy about that."

"I'm sure he wasn't, I don't know how much it will help in his case though."

"Really? His school record isn't that different to mine."

"You're very wrong there, the only reason you ever had problems with school was because of your father; on the other hand, Sunohara's reasons are all of his own creation. He gave up trying because he got kicked off the soccer team for hitting the team captain, and he never bothered to try and fix it. At this point I'd be very surprised if he was allowed to graduate."

"I guess you're right, we were both labelled as delinquents, so I figured we were pretty much the same."

"That's the problem with labels, once you call someone a thing, they can start to believe it themselves."

"You really think so?"

"You've been labelled as a delinquent because you're late all the time, but we both know why that was, beyond that you can be a bit gruff and blunt at times, but that's it. Really I think your delinquent status came mostly from hanging out with him."

"You really think he's _that_ bad?"

"He's frequently violent, bullies younger and weaker students, extorts money from others both in and out of school, I hear he even forced a first year to 'lend' him a TV and a games console. From what I hear you have always distanced yourself from those incidents. He's got more in common with the students in my old school than he does with you."

"It does sound pretty bad when you say it like that."

"We've got an assignment that needs to be done by Monday, I'll go through it with you when we get home."

"Home…"

"Is something wrong?"

"Hmm? No, no, it's just not a word I've had much use for. My dad's place was only ever a roof and four walls."

"There was a time I felt the same way, but after Takafumi's accident that changed; so, if I can come to understand what 'home' means, then so can you."

"Hmm…." Tomoyo understood me well enough to leave me in peace, to straighten out my thoughts, that she knew me so well already, was a great comfort itself.

After dinner we sat down to look over the homework Tomoyo had brought for me, but I was finding it hard to focus.

"Tomoya-san, are you okay?"

"Hmm, sorry Kadee-san, what did you say?"

"I was asking if you were okay, you've been very quiet."

"I guess it's starting to sink in how much has changed over such a short time."

"Your world has been turned on it's head really hasn't it, try not to dwell on it too much, you'll adjust in time."

"I know, it's just a lot to take in all at once; dad's more abusive than I'd ever considered, but he's gone for good now, I've moved into my girlfriend's house, I'm changing class, and I'm resitting all of my exams. All in less than a week." Tomoyo put down her pen and took my hand.

"That's true, but it's all good news. You're getting a fresh start, not many people get that chance."

"True, but I wouldn't have any of that if you'd let me break up with you. It's just a little alarming that so much changed because of one decision."

"What made you do that?"

"What?"

"You don't usually care what people think of you, so I just wondered." I couldn't bring myself to look her in the eye, so I looked down and fidgeted with my pen.

"It wasn't about me though was it, I guess with everyone around us telling me the problems we had were all because of me, and that I was holding you back, and you were meant for greater things than I could ever achieve; it felt like I was exchanging your future for my own happiness; I'd never have forgiven myself if the cherry trees were cut down, even if you didn't blame me for it, I always would." hearing a sniffle I looked up to see Tomoyo's eyes rimmed with red and her lip trembling. Before I could say anything to her, she came around the table and clung to me, with her face pressed into my shoulder.

"I'll give you two some room." Kadee-san dabbed at the corner of her eye with a tissue as she stood up and left the room.

"Did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to upset you." I'd never seen Tomoyo seem so vulnerable before, it left me at a loss as to what to do. Tomoyo took a deep breath and pulled away from my shoulder.

"You didn't say anything wrong, it's just that when you tried to break up, you said a lot of that, but saying that my future is more important than your own happiness, I got a little emotional."

"Oh…" I wasn't exactly sure what to say to that. She rested her head against my chest and sighed, I wasn't exactly sure if I'd said something I shouldn't have, but after a while of holding me Tomoyo let go and returned to her books with a slight smile on her lips.

Most of Sunday was spent in much the same way, study, study and study some more; and this was just to catch up to where I would be if I'd started the year in the class I was going to be joining as of Monday morning. The thought of all of the studying I'd have to do over the coming months made my head hurt; but what Tomoyo said was true, not many people get this kind of chance, and if it means I can stay with Tomoyo, I'll do whatever it takes.

Thankfully Tomoyo didn't have any morning meetings to go to, so we were able to head there at a more normal time, I was glad of the extra time in bed, but the downside was the streets were filled with students, all of whom seemed to be watching us as we passed; Tomoyo was either better at ignoring it than I was or she didn't notice, she just walk along beside me with her arm looped through mine with a big smile on her face.

"What's got you so happy this morning?"

"What made you ask that?"

"You've had a big smile on your face since we left."

"I hadn't realised, I'm just glad I get to go to class with my boyfriend I guess."

"THERE YOU… *crunch*" Sunohara had appeared from around a corner rather suddenly, Tomoyo being who she is instantly struck out and landed a thunderous kick to Sunohara's groin.

Sunohara stayed upright briefly with his hands clutching the injured area, and cross eyed, before he crumpled to the floor groaning quietly. There's something about someone being kicked in the nuts that makes every guy that sees it wince, and Sunohara's face had gone a slightly funny colour.

"You really should have worked out that surprising Tomoyo is a really bad idea, and you should probably put some ice on that."

"Sorry, I just reacted."

"Don't worry about it, I nearly hit him myself."

"What should we do?"

"Just leave him, he'll be fine… eventually." Tomoyo looked down at him briefly, then resumed walking to school. "I wonder what he wanted?"

"Probably something to do with you not going to his dorm over the weekend."

"Could be, anyway, have you noticed that everybody is watching us?"

"News of your situation has probably made it round the entire school by now."

"True, doesn't stop it being irritating though, seriously are they expecting me to do, freak out or something?"

"Just try and ignore them, they'll get bored of it eventually."

"I hope so, glaring at them isn't working like it used to."

"Good."

"Good? What makes that a good thing?"

"Because it means they aren't scared of you anymore, so they must understand why you were the way you were better."

"Sounds a bit optimistic to me, but you never know."

Walking into the classroom was more of the same, as everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at me. I was tempted to try glaring at a few of them, but I decided it was probably not going to be too helpful to scare my new classmates.

"Good morning everyone." It was worth a try. A few did return my greeting while the rest slowly returned to what they were doing, including one guy that was clearing his desk out.

"We're over there." Tomoyo pointed to the pair of desks that the guy was moving his stuff from.

"Are you moving because of me?"

"Sakagami-san asked if I would last week."

"Oh, Thank you very much." He actually looked surprised, so did Tomoyo for that matter.

"No problem." He grabbed the last of his stuff and headed off to an empty desk near the back of the room. "You don't need to look quite so surprised you know."

"Sorry, it was just a little unexpected."

"I figured if I'm getting a fresh start, I should make an effort to be nicer." Tomoyo gave me a delighted smile and hugged my arm.

"Good for you." Her display of affection did raise a few eyebrows, but I wasn't about to tell her to stop.

My new teacher walked in just after I had got all had finished sorting out all of my books.

"Good morning class, I'm sure it didn't go unnoticed that we have a new student with us today; I'm also sure I don't need to explain his situation, so try and make him feel welcome. Okazaki-san, did Sakagami give you the assignment from Saturday?"

"Yes Sensei."

"Alright, I'll give it a look over in a moment." He passed some paperwork to the class rep to hand out and walked over to me, I handed him the assignment and he began reading it over as he returned to his desk. "Looks good, if you get stuck on anything just find me after class."

"Yes Sensei." Relieved doesn't quite cover how I felt at that moment. An elbow poked my ribs.

"See, I told you."

The rest of the morning's lessons went pretty well, I was able to answer the questions I was asked, and it wasn't too difficult to keep up. Tomoyo had council meetings at lunch time so I just stayed at my desk and studied while I ate my lunch.

"Are you actually studying?" My train of thought was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Oh, hey Kyou, Fujibayashi, decided to drop in did you?"

"Well, Ryou was worried, so she asked me to come with her."

"It good of you to worry, but I'm alright now thank you." Fujibayashi blushed and smiled but didn't actually say anything.

"So, where's little miss perfect today?"

"If you mean Tomoyo, she's got council meetings today."

"Doesn't leave much time for you does it?"

"To be fair I'm up to my eyeballs in textbooks at the moment anyway, but we manage to get some time together."

"I still think with everything you've been through…"

"Look Kyou, I'm touched that you're worried about me, but if it wasn't for Tomoyo I wouldn't have ever had this chance to straighten out my life; and what's more for the first time in my life, I'm actually happy. I understand there's some sort of personality clash between the two of you, and I really do want to stay friends, but I really don't like it when you put her down so much." Kyou stared at me with her mouth hanging open.

"Oh… I, I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"It's fine, don't worry about it; So, has Sunohara make it into class yet?"

"No, not yet, why?"

"We ran into him on the way in this morning, he made the mistake of jumping out in front of Tomoyo and got a kick to the nuts for his trouble."

"I might be warming up to her after all."

"He's probably still curled up in a ball on the floor, I heard the impact it was so hard."

We talked and joked for a while Fujibayashi actually joined the conversation too, just before the first bell rang, Tomoyo returned to the classroom. Just before she sat down Kyou stopped her.

"Umm Sakagami-san, could I speak to you please?" To say Tomoyo was surprised would be an understatement. She looked at me, but all I could do was shrug.

"Okay." They both stepped out into the hallway. Shortly after they both returned, with no obvious wounds thankfully.

"We had better get going, the bell is about to ring. See you later." Kyou and Fujibayashi left the room.

"What did you say to her?"

"She was basically saying that you should have been here with me instead of at the council meetings, especially with everything I was going through; so I told her that I wanted to stay friends but I didn't like the way she talks about you, and I wouldn't be able to fix my life without you."

"Did you say anything else?"

"Err, I said I was happy for the first time in my life; why what did she say to you?"

"She said she was sorry she had been such a bitch, and she was glad that you were happy."

"Really?"

"I was just as surprised, that's why I wondered what you'd said."

"Maybe she understood the implication and decided to play nice."

"Implication?"

"I want to stay friends but, I don't like. You follow me?"

"I missed that, so it's play nice or I won't be your friend?"

"Pretty much what I was going for. They were pretty much the only ones that would talk to me until I met you, so I'd rather keep them as friends, but if it's a choice between you and them, it's not a hard choice."

"Suddenly, I wish we were alone."

"Just hold on to that thought until after school." Tomoyo contented herself with wrapping her arms around my bicep and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Put him down Sakagami, there's plenty of time for that after school." Our teachers comment raised a chuckle from a few of our classmates, but mostly it just raised the temperature of Tomoyo's face.

The rest of the school day went without further 'incidents' Tomoyo headed off to more meetings and I headed to my first catch up lesson with Komura-sensei.

"Good evening Tomoya-san, how did your first day in your new class go?"

"Pretty good actually."

"No problems integrating into the new group?"

"They're still a little wary of me but given my reputation I'm not surprised."

"Hmm… Give them time; we shall begin with a mock exam, so we can see where we need to focus our efforts."

"Sounds like a plan." The test took about an hour, rather than keep me there while he marked it, Komura-sensei gave me some fairly generic material to cover before my next lesson with him.

Tomoyo was still in the student council room, so I decided to sit by the door and wait, rather than waste the time I pulled out the material Komura-sensei had given me, half an hour later a familiar pair of feet appeared in front of me.

"Keeping busy I see."

"Well, I don't really have much time to spare at the moment."

"So I hear, would you be able to spare me a moment."

"Yeah, go ahead."

"I'm sorry about what I said to you before, I shouldn't have intruded into something that was not my business."

"For what it's worth, I'm sure you had Tomoyo's best interests at heart, but what you really should consider, is that had Tomoyo not resisted my attempt to follow your advice, I would still be living with an abusive father and condemned to a life working minimum wage jobs if I was lucky." He swallowed hard. "What I would like for you to take away from this experience is that you should try not to be so judgemental."

"I will try my best."

"As will I." I reached out and shook his hand.

"Thank you." He headed off down the corridor.

"I'm impressed."

"Hey, when did you show up?"

"A couple of minutes ago."

"So, who's impressive, me or him?"

"Him."

"Huh?"

"I was joking, don't look at me like I've just taken away all your toys; how did it go with Komura?"

"Not bad, he just had me take a mock exam and then gave me a bunch of study material."

"How long were you waiting?"

"I don't know, half an hour maybe."

"You could have just gone home you know."

"No, I wanted to walk home with you." Tomoyo smiled and took my hand. "Besides, I'm not sure of how to get home just yet." I got a whack on the arm for my trouble, but she laughed too, so I'll call it a win. We made our way home, chatting comfortably as we walked.

"HEY, I WANT… *Wham*" Sunohara manged to avoid crippling injuries this time, but still wound up upside down in a hedge.

"Seriously, have you got a death wish or something? You really shouldn't jump out at her like that."

"It wasn't her I was jumping out at, it was you."

"If she's holding my hand it's the same thing. Why were you jumping out at me then?"

"You and those bloody social workers are ruining everything!"

"I've told you before, it's nothing to do with me. What's the problem anyway?"

"They've got my parents coming to the school."

"And?"

"And, they have told them about my attendance and exams."

"They didn't know already?"

"Are you nuts, of course they didn't."

"Impressive. I'm still wondering how any of this is my fault? You didn't seriously think you were going to hide it forever, did you?"

"If you hadn't brought that social worker to school, I would have been fine."

"You make it sound like I just decided to bring one with me one day, she showed up because my dad beat the crap out of me. But all you think about is how bad it is for you, I've never once told you skip school, over sleep or sleep in class. You have no one to blame but yourself."

"WHY YOU…" Sunohara lunged for me, but needless to say he never reached his target, Tomoyo saw to that, instead he was returned to the hedge, but rather less inclined to get back out any time soon.

"Can you believe that ass hole?"

"I said you were nothing like him, didn't I?"

"And I'd had such a nice day up to now as well."

"I'm glad you had a good day at least; I don't think I remember you ever saying that before." We resumed our walk home, and left Sunohara to his hedge.

"I think the only thing I used to enjoy about school was seeing you."

"So, what did you enjoy today?"

"Well I got to sit next to my girlfriend all day, so that was nice, aside from that I actually enjoyed math class this afternoon, it seemed to come pretty easy."

"I thought you answered quite quickly."

"I can't quite put my finger on it, but the whole day felt more relaxed, apart from the walk in that is."

"Despite you having double the studying to do?"

"Weird I know, but there it is."

"It could just be that you have fresh start."

"Could be, but then again not having the teachers and students either looking down on me or running away didn't hurt either."

After dinner I was sat at the table studying when I felt a pair of eyes on me, looking around I spotted Takafumi's head poking through the door.

"Was there something you wanted Takafumi?" He paused for a moment but came over and sat down next to me.

"You're Nee-san's boyfriend, aren't you?"

"That's right."

"Is that why she's smiling so much lately?"

"I'd like to think so, but you'd have to ask her really." Takafumi looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Dad told me about what happened to you. So, your Dad really did that to you?"

"Yeah." He looked a little puzzled.

"But Nee-san and you are still happy, even after that?"

"That's right, love is a bit funny that way."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I can't speak for Tomoyo, but just being around her is enough to make me happy."

"Really… So, are you going to marry Nee-san?"

"It might be a little early for that, but I'd like to think so." Suddenly there was a thud from across the room. We both looked over to see a bright red Tomoyo with a book at her feet.

"Nee-san?"

"I… we… you…" Tomoyo stood there flustered beyond being able to speak, she stared at me wide eyed, and then shot off out of sight.

"Well that's a first."

"What was wrong with Nee-san?"

"Girls can be a bit funny about the whole marriage thing." Kadee-san stepped into the room looking a bit startled.

"What happened to Tomoyo?"

"Takafumi asked me if I was going to marry Tomoyo, I said it was a bit early for that, but I'd like to think so; but she must have heard us."

"Oh…"

"Is it really that surprising?"

"For a boy of your age to say it so casually, yes."

"Oh… is it a problem?"

"Quite the opposite, it's nice to hear you've thought about where your relationship is going, and you obviously make each other very happy; I suspect she's had similar thoughts, but probably only as a far-off dream."

"Should I go and talk to her?"

"She'll come to you when she's ready; Takafumi, Tomoya-san needs to study, and I think you've caused enough trouble for one night." Kadee-san gently ushered Takafumi out of the room. It wasn't too long before Tomoyo returned to talk to me.

"Tomoya…"

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I was just a bit surprised, that's all."

"I could tell, was it really that much of a shock?"

"Yes and no, I'm really happy that you think that, but I was surprised you just came out and said it like that."

"He asked me a direct question, so I gave him a direct answer. He seems to be trying to make sense of the changes to your behaviour and how my presence affects him and his relationship with you; so figured it was best to be as honest as I could to avoid misunderstandings."

"I see… I am still a bit surprised that you've thought that far ahead."

"I guess it was all part of trying to make sense of how much my life has changed since I met you; even before all this recent stuff with my dad, you changed things I a pretty big way for me."

"I did?"

"Before I met you romance wasn't really something that I ever thought about; and it was the first time I remember actually feeling happy, so my world view was already flipped upside down before we even started dating."

"So, you never thought about girls before?"

"I wouldn't go that far, I'm a healthy red-blooded male after all, but it was definitely the first time I ever considered a girlfriend; I guess what I'm saying is that you've changed so much of what I expect out of life, looking forward to where I see my life going just doesn't make much sense without you in it." Before I knew it Tomoyo was straddling me with her arms around my neck and her tongue in my mouth.

By the time Tomoyo released me I was feeling decidedly lightheaded.

"Wow…"

"Sorry, I got a little carried away."

"No kidding, not that I'm complaining." She was still sitting on my lap, but in a slightly less risky side saddle position.

"You really think we'll get married?"

"Kind of hard to say no after a kiss like that; jokes aside, yes I do. I can't say I've thought much about when, not while we're still in school, but beyond that, I don't know."

The following day Tomoyo had early meetings again, she was starting to dig in to the campaign to save the sakura trees so this was going to be pretty much the norm for a while, I decided I would keep walking in to school with her and use the extra time in school in the mornings to get to grips with the material I needed to catch up on. It was going to be a busy time for both of us so it made sense to make the most of the time we could get together.

I had been working in the classroom for about half an hour when our teacher walked in.

"You're in early Okazaki; you're not working on yesterday's homework assignment, are you?"

"No Sensei, this is the work Komura-sensei gave me."

"And you just decided to come in early to do it?"

"Sort of, Tomoyo's going to be busy with meetings and stuff for a while, so I decided I'd walk to school with her, so we'd at least have that time together; it's nice to have the peace and quiet to work in as well, so it kills two birds with one stone."

"I have to say; having heard your reputation I didn't expect to see such diligence."

"I can see where you're coming from, it'll take a while for me to live down my reputation, but I've been given a second chance, so I'm not going to let it slip through my fingers."

"Maybe a leopard can change its spots after all."

The Fujibayashi twins came to see me again at lunch time.

"Hey Tomoya, studying again?"

"Hey, Kyou, Fujibayashi, I've got a lot of catching up to do so I may as well make good use of the time."

"Is Sakagami busy again?"

"Yeah, she's getting stuck into the campaign to save the sakura trees now, so there'll be meetings with a bunch of people, like the town planners and such."

"Have you seen Sunohara yet today?"

"Not today no, we ran into him last night, why?"

"Well he seems really pissed at you."

"Yeah we got that last night, he's trying to blame me for the fact his parents have finally found out what he's been up to for the last two years." Kyou scratched her head nervously.

"Don't freak out or anything, but he's trying to spread a rumour about you and Sakagami."

"What's he saying?"

"He's saying that you got her pregnant."

*sigh* "Any idea where he is? I guess I need to go and have a word with him."

"You're not going to beat him up, are you?"

"No, just talk."

"He was in the courtyard."

"Would you come and back me up, just in case he doesn't feel like talking."

"Sure."

"Just so we're on the same page, I don't want to get into a fight with him, if he does try anything, I just want to dodge or block until he gives up or someone decides to break it up."

"Oh… Okay, if you say so." Just like Kyou said he was in the courtyard trying to convince people that Tomoyo was pregnant, nobody was buying it mind you, but I still needed to shut him up.

"Sunohara, what exactly are you trying to achieve with this?"

"You! It's all your fault!" Sunohara turned to face me and snarled his accusation.

"We went through this yesterday, none of the trouble you're in now is anybody's doing but yours." Sunohara's raving before I got there had already drawn a crowd, so there was already an audience building.

"If it wasn't for you and _miss student bloody council president, _none of this would have happened!"

"I seem to remember Tomoyo going out of her way to help you get back on track."

"If her dad hadn't…"

"Hadn't what? Saved me from an abusive parent?" Sunohara gave up trying to win the argument and lunged at me trying to knock me down with a rugby tackle, but he was enraged, and his technique was bad, so it was easy to sidestep his attack. He ended up sprawled on the grass behind me; now covered in dirt and grass stains, he was looking more and more deranged.

He tried to get me with another tackle, but I managed to redirect his path by pushing against his shoulder, I've seen the rugby team do something similar, so it was worth a try. He managed to stay on his feet this time, so he quickly twisted round and took a swing at me, but it was badly aimed, and I only had to step to the side to avoid it. Because of the size of the crowd it didn't take long for one of the teachers to come and investigate.

Sunohara was still swinging wildly, getting more and more frustrated as every punch was dodged or deflected; the teacher grabbed Sunohara's shoulder to restrain him, but her turned and took a swing at the teacher instead. The punch was totally un-aimed, so it glanced off the teacher's shoulder, it didn't do any real harm, but it was enough to make the teacher release him and wait for further assistance.

Two of the gym teachers were the next to arrive, including the judo coach, ignorant of the hopelessness of his situation, Sunohara charged the nearest teacher, within seconds he was pinned to the floor with a teacher several times his size kneeling on his back while another held his arms in place. The remaining teacher walked over to me.

"Come on Okazaki, let's go." As I was led away, Kyou followed us. "What do you want Fujibayashi?"

"I want to make a witness statement in Tomoya's defence."

"Defence?"

"Tomoya did everything he could to avoid a fight."

"Alright, let's hear it, what happened."

"Tomoya came to try and talk to Sunohara after I told him what was being said about his relationship with Sakagami-san."

"And what was he saying?"

"That Sakagami-san is pregnant."

"I assume that this isn't true."

"It is absolutely not true."

"Okay, so why should I believe that in the face of such provocation, you came out here with completely peaceful intentions?"

"Because he asked me to help him if it did come to a fight, but he made it very clear that he did not want to take any aggressive action whatsoever." The teacher gave me a slightly confused look.

"What was your plan when you came out here?"

"I had hoped to talk him down; he has decided that all of his current problems with social services and his parents are all my doing. My intention was that in the event he attacked me was that I would dodge or block his attacks until either he exhausted himself or someone came to break it up."

"What class are you in now?"

"2-B Sensei"

"Alright, go back to your classroom, I'll investigate and see what people say you actually did."

"Thank you, Sensei." The teacher nodded and turned to speak to some of the crowed that had formed. "Thanks Kyou, much appreciated."

"That's why you asked me to come with you wasn't it?"

"Pretty much. You'd better get back to class, I don't want you taking any flack for this mess."

"Yeah, okay, I'll come and see you later."

"Alright, see you later."

By the time I got back to my classroom, Tomoyo was already there.

"What happened?"

"Sunohara snapped is what happened."

"Why didn't you just ignore him?"

"He was telling everyone that I had got you pregnant."

"HE WHAT!?" Everyone in the room jumped, including me.

"Exactly, I hoped I would be able to talk to him, but he just attacked me. I didn't fight back before you worry about that. He just snapped."

"I'm glad you managed to restrain yourself at least."

"Oh, by the way, nobody believed a word he was saying, so you don't need to worry about that."

"A story like that would disprove itself before long anyway."

"True."

"Okazaki, a word if you please."

"Yes Sensei."

"I spoke to a number of the witnesses, they all corroborate your account of the altercation, so you have nothing to worry about. But the police are likely to want to talk to you."

"Is he being arrested?"

"Yes, he assaulted a teacher, we can't afford to set a president that says that it will be tolerated."

"No, of course not."

"Sakagami, did you want to make a complaint against him?"

"What for?"

"Slander, there are plenty of witnesses if you wish to pursue it."

"No, he's not worth it, and it's not like anyone actually believed it anyway."

"Alright; Okazaki, I'll admit I assumed the worst when I saw you at the centre of that crowd, I'm glad I was wrong; I'll give you the benefit of the doubt in future."

"Thank you, Sensei." Tomoyo had a really big grin on her face as we returned to our seats.

"I'm so proud of you." She hugged my arm so tightly I was starting to lose blood flow to my hand.

Officer Sato and Mitzaki came to see me after class ended for the day.

"Alright Tomoya-san, what can you tell us about the altercation this afternoon."

"I should mention that Sunohara accosted us last night on our way home. He was adamant that all of his current problems were my fault."

"Really?"

"He said if I hadn't brought you into the school everything would be fine."

"I don't recall you bringing me anywhere."

"That's pretty much what I said, in the end he got frustrated and tried to attack us."

"Tried?"

"Tomoyo is highly skilled in self-defence."

"I see, so what happened today?"

"One of my friends came to tell me that he was in the courtyard spreading an unpleasant rumour about Tomoyo and myself. So, I went to try and talk to him."

"What was the rumour?"

"He was telling everyone that Tomoyo was pregnant with my child."

"Extraordinary, what happened when you got to the courtyard?"

"He said basically the same thing as last night really, but he got frustrated when I reminded him that it was all his doing. Then he attacked me. After that I did my best to fend him off until help arrived."

"So, you never fought back?"

"No, I wasn't going to let him ruin my clean start."

"Good, that all lines up with witness accounts, we shouldn't need to talk to again on this matter." Officer Sato nodded in satisfaction and closed the file folder.

"From what the teachers tell me, this incident has gone a long way to proving you are making an effort to put your past behind you."

"Sounds like him alright, tries to cause me problems and ends up doing the opposite."

"He's being held for tonight, but if you have any problems with him after that let me know and we'll deal with it."


	3. Chapter 3 – Progress

**Chapter 3 – Progress**

Apparently the catalyst for Sunohara's little meltdown was that he'd been told that he would not be able to graduate as things stood, but he could do something similar to myself.

With the best will in the world there was never any chance that he'd be capable of keeping up with the sheer amount of studying required, even if he wanted to. That said he was never going to agree to an additional year in school, with a mountain of extra work thrown in for good measure. When it boils down to it, I genuinely don't believe we were ever really friends; we were useful to each other but that was as far as it went.

Aside from that little bit of good news the only thing of note was that Tomoyo didn't have any meetings over lunch time, so when the twins came to visit again all four of us went out to the court yard to eat our lunch together, Kyou and Tomoyo managed to bond over Sunohara's misfortune, so hopefully further friction between them can be avoided.

When I arrived at my catch-up class, Komura-sensei sat me in front of a computer to take an official IQ test while he looked over my homework assignments.

"Excellent work Tomoya-san, we need to work on your spelling and grammar, but your English is surprisingly good and it seems you have a mind for numbers."

"I found that math class came pretty easily the other day actually."

"Good… Have you found the quantity of study material to be manageable?"

"It's fine, I've been coming in early and covering some before class starts so it's fine."

"Indeed… I had been told that you were arriving early to study, do you believe that you can maintain that?"

"I don't see why not, even with getting up early, I'm still getting way more sleep than before so it should be fine."

"Good… here are your homework assignments to be completed by Friday, we shall conclude the lesson here for today."

"Thank you, Sensei, I'll see you Friday."

Just like Monday night I sat outside the council room and took a look at the assignments I had been given.

"Conjugate the verb? What the hell does conjugate mean in the first place?"

"It wants you to list the different forms of the verb."

"Geez… don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry I couldn't resist it; how did it go with Komura today?"

"Didn't do a great deal actually, he just sat me in front of a computer to do the official IQ test."

"You say that like it doesn't matter, what did you get?"

"146."

"Wow, impressive."

"Really? Nobody's actually told me what the numbers really mean."

"Average IQ is around 100 points, I got 125 myself, so you're actually quite a bit smarter than me."

"Wow, I had no idea."

"At 146 you're officially a genius."

"I bet there's a bunch of people like that in school though."

"Just two."

"Really?"  
"There's the Ichinose girl."

"Who's the other one?"

"You."

"So, there's this Ichinose and me, that's it…? where do I know that name from?"

"She's pretty famous so you've probably just heard it around the school."

"Maybe…"

"You're missing my point completely."

"Sorry, what was your point then."

"You, Okazaki Tomoya are the second smartest person in the whole school."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I'm not."

"Holy crap."

"Yep, holy crap."

"Kyou's never going to believe this."

"Come on genius, let's go home."

"Dad! We're home!"

"Hey, you two, how was school today?"

"Tomoya had his official IQ test today."

"How'd it go?"

"I'm not sure I believe it myself yet, but I got 146."

"Wow, that's really impressive."

"He's officially a genius."

"And all that potential nearly went to waste, good thing you brought him home with you."

"What's more he's actually the second smartest person in the school."

"You make it sound like that includes the teachers."

"It probably does, if your head teacher is anything to go by. Do you know if Mitzaki-san has been told yet?"

"I doubt it, I only finished the test an hour ago, why?"

"There could be a grant or two you'd be eligible for."

"A grant, what for?"

"Anything from books to university really."

"I hadn't even considered university."

"With a brain like yours it would be a huge waste not to go."

"But isn't that going to be really expensive?"

"Between your brain and your background, we shouldn't have a problem finding you a scholarship. I'll talk to Mitzaki-san tomorrow and see what we can find."

"Yeah, thanks."

"You seem to be getting that shell-shocked look on your face a lot lately."

"Can you blame me?"

"No, I just think it looks cute."

So, for the second time in less than a week, I was having to completely rethink where I thought my life would take me. Even before my shoulder was broken, I never once thought I'd be going to university. What on earth would I even do?

Kyou's reaction when Tomoyo told her was more or less as predicted.

"You're trying to tell me that Tomoya is actually a genius?"

"I said the same thing myself to be honest, she hasn't even told you the best part yet."

"There's actually only one person in the school with a higher IQ than Tomoya."

"Bullshit."

"Onee-chan!"

"Seriously, the only one smarter than Tomoya is the Ichinose girl."

"Holy crap."

"That's what I said."

"And you spent two years hanging around that blonde moron."

"Did you hear what happened to him?"

"No, I know he hasn't been in school since his little meltdown, but that's all."

"He's been expelled and taken back home by his parents."

"That can't have been a comfortable drive back."

"Especially as he's being prosecuted for assaulting a teacher as well."

"What made him snap anyway?"

"They told him he wouldn't be able to graduate unless he did the same thing as me."

"Ouch."

"There was never much hope he'd be able to keep up with all of the extra study he'd have to do anyway, even if he did want to put the work in."

"How much extra do you have to do?" Fujibayashi was slowly becoming more talkative, but she didn't often speak to me directly.

"At the moment I'm doing about three hours on top of the normal homework."

"How do you find the time for all that?"

"I've been coming in a little over an hour early and I get a bit done during break times."

"Just imagine what you could have done if you'd worked this hard from the start."

"Komura said the same thing as it happens, but I still can't quite wrap my brain around it."

"If you can't there's not much hope for the rest of us is there."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of being treated differently mind you."

"I'm afraid that it's something you're just going to have to get used to; like it or not you _are_ different, and an education system that's built to work for the average student isn't going to work for you." Tomoyo stated her opinion in a very matter of fact tone.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Look at it this way, you're doing more than double the amount of homework that anyone else is, you've got to catch up to the rest of the year you're currently in, but you're still keeping up in class."

"So?"

"So, don't you think that it would be a bit _too_ easy if you didn't have to learn faster than everyone else?"

"I see your point."

"So, does that mean we can come to you if we get stuck with our homework?"

"I think you're forgetting something there Kyou."

"What?"

"I won't be covering the material you are until next year."

"Nuts, finally in a position to get help from a genius, and you're in the year below us."

"Couldn't you ask this Ichinose girl for help?"

"Not really, she doesn't even need to go to class in the first place and they say she's a bit weird as well."

"Weird how?"

"I think I heard someone say she was autistic, but I'm not sure."

"Well, you never know, I may end up catching up to you once I'm done with the first-year stuff."

"I hadn't thought of that; you could end up getting a start on the third-year lessons by the end of the year."

"I need to work out what I want to do after graduation as well."

"You mean what course you want to do at university?"

"I was thinking of what job I want to aim for, but there's that too."

"You haven't had any ideas yet?"

"Until yesterday it had never crossed my mind that I could ever go to uni in the first place, and as for a job, before I got bumped down a year I was just thinking I'd take any job I could get, so choice never really entered into it."

"Maybe something in science or engineering?" Tomoyo was aiming high as always.

"Maybe, I'm pretty good with numbers, but how that applies to a career, I have no idea."

"The guidance councillor could probably help you with that."

"I'd forgotten there even was a guidance councillor here."

"Check with Mitzaki-san first, she may want to be in on the meeting."

"I'll speak to her later then."

"Who's that?"

"Mitzaki-san's my social worker, she's also the one who chewed out the head teacher."

"I so wish I'd seen that."

"It was all I could do to stop myself from laughing."

"What was it all about anyway?"

"He was more interested in covering his own ass than he was about helping me, she had to threaten him with an audit of the child safety policies before he gave in."

"I did enjoy the look on his face when she told him you were actually smarter than me."

"Why did that come up?"

"The whole drop down a year thing was Tomoyo's idea, so when she said that Tomoyo had come up with a good plan, he was all smug and 'she is one our most promising students' but then she told him that my IQ at the time was 15 points higher."

"You're really _that_ much smarter than even she is?"

"Well…"

"What?"

"That was just the score we got at home; his IQ is actually 21 points higher than mine." Kyou stared at Tomoyo wide eyed as the information sank in.

"But aren't you always in the top three of the test results league table."

"Exactly, he's that smart."

"Laying in on a little thick today don't you think?"

"Aren't I allowed to be proud of you?"

"It's not that, it's just a bit embarrassing, I'm not used to all these compliments."

"Get used to it brain boy, it's only going to happen more from now on."

"I really don't need a nickname, thank you Kyou."

"Too bad, you've got one now."

"I'll do you a deal, you swear never to use that nick name or invent a new one, and I'll call you senpai for the rest of the week."

"I like the sound of that."  
"I thought you would, so, deal?"

"Deal."

"But Onee-chan…"

"He agreed to it Ryou, a deal's a deal."

"I think what she was going to point out was that is already Thursday."

"What?"

"Lunchbreak is nearly over and today is Thursday, so you actually have the pleasure of being called senpai for one entire lunch break." The look of utter disbelief of Kyou's face even made Fujibayashi laugh.

"I can't believe you got that one by me. I think I liked you better when you were still stupid."

In the end Kyou didn't even get that much time as I ended up in a session with the guidance councillor for most of Friday's lunch break. He gave me few ideas for jobs that could suit me, so I could look into them in a bit more detail and see what I want to aim for. Walking home after council meetings had finished, Tomoyo was eager for details.

"So, what did Nakamura-sensei say then?"

"He suggested a few things I could be worth looking into, one of which I'd never even heard of."

"What was that?"  
"An actuary, apparently, they calculate the odds of things happening, for insurance companies and such. Sounds like it would either be pretty enjoyable or deathly boring."

"What else did he come up with?"

"Accountancy, pretty obvious when you think about it, the other job he said could really suit me was an architect."

"Is anything catching your interest more than anything else?"

"Architect sounds promising, you mentioned engineering and it ties in with that nicely. But I need to get more information first."

"Dad would probably be able to help with that."

"What does her do?"

"He's a facilities manager for a big distribution warehouse, so he deals with architects and builders from time to time."

"I'll talk to him after dinner, see what he thinks."

"Mitzaki-san tells me you went to see the guidance councillor this afternoon."

"Yeah, I wanted an idea of what jobs might suit me, it turns out I'm pretty good with math, but I didn't really know what that could become as a job."

"What did they say?"

"He gave me three examples as a jumping off point, accounting, insurance actuary and architecture."

"Hmm, accounting could work I suppose."

"You don't sound too convinced of that."

"From what Tomoyo tells me you have good problem-solving skills, and I don't really see them being properly used as an accountant. I've only ever met one insurance actuary, he was the most mind numbingly boring individual I have ever met, but that doesn't necessarily reflect the industry. But architecture could work well for you, it takes a long time to study for. Not that I'm trying to put you off, it's a good and well-paid job."

"I'll give it some thought, thanks."

"There's no rush, you've a year before you need to make any big decisions."

"I know, it's just that all of a sudden I've gone from expecting to have to search high and low for any minimum wage job I can get, to being told I'm some sort of genius and I should go to uni."

"It's understandable that you'd feel a bit lost in all of this, you've had your place in the world has been flipped on its head and you've never had any kind of parental guidance."

"Yeah I guess you're right."

"You have the luxury of time for now, so don't rush yourself, and you can come and talk to me or Kadee when you need to, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks."

I spent some time on Takafumi's computer to see what I was going to need to do to become an architect, I'd need a bachelor's degree that would take five years and I'd need to do three year paid internship too, it all seemed a little daunting, but the more I looked into what architects actually do on a day to day basis, the more I liked the sound of it; it would mean it would be seven years from now before I was qualified and could bring in the big money, but even the interns wage was pretty good, certainly enough to be able to get my own place.

"Say, Takafumi, would you be able to teach me a bit more about computers?"

"Yeah, if you want, I can show you a few things."

"That would be great thanks, not just yet though, I need to get caught up with my studies first." I'd need to get a lot better with computers, a lot of what an architect does these days involves something called Computer Aided Design, and I didn't stand a chance with it if I didn't improve my skills and knowledge, Takafumi had been teasing me a little about how slow my typing was too, so I needed to work on that, he called my typing style "Hunt and peck" whatever that means; but he had some programs I could use to improve on that.

Mitzaki-san called me on Monday to tell me that the psychiatric assessment would be on Thursday after school; I can't really say I was looking forward to it, but I was a little curious about what they'd come up with. Fujita-san had to come with me obviously, and Tomoyo insisted she wanted to come as well "Just in case" quite what she thought was going to happen I'm not sure; but it wasn't like I didn't want her there anyway.

"Okazaki-san, I'm Doctor Harada, I will be carrying out your assessment; I'm afraid that your companions will have to wait out here."

"Okay then, after you." I followed the Doctor into his office; for some reason I was expecting to see one of those long couch things like you see on tv. But it looked more like someone's study than it did a doctor's office.

"Okay then Okazaki-san take a seat. You have been made aware of why you are here I assume."

"Yeah, they wanted to check if there was any psychological harm caused by my dad."

"I'd be extremely surprised if there weren't any issues at all, it's more a case of do we need to do anything about it or are you coping on your own. In your own words, what has your relationship with your father been like?"

"I'm not sure how to put it, I guess the only really remember us either arguing or ignoring each other."

"When did you first start to argue with your father?"

"When I was eight or nine, I think."

"And what was it like before that?"

"I don't remember much before that."

"So, you don't recall your childhood prior to eight years old, hasn't that ever troubled you?"

"I've never really thought about it; but now you mention it, it does seem odd."

"Hmm, do you remember your mother at all?"

"No, I have a vague image of a tall, long haired woman but I couldn't say if it was my mother or not."

"You were five when she died, is that correct?"

"That's what I was told yes."

"What can you tell me about how your father treated you?"

"I only ever really remember arguing with him, up until the fight when my shoulder was broken anyway; after that he's treated more like someone, he bumped into in a bar than a son."

"Could you be more specific about his behaviour since the injury?"

"Well he started calling me Tomoya-kun for one thing, but mostly he seemed indifferent to my presence."

"And how did that make you feel?"

"Angry I guess, I always felt like I wanted to shout at him when he did it."

"Because he called you Tomoya-kun?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure why it always made me feel like that."

"So, before the shoulder injury he simply called you Tomoya did he?"

"I think so."

"But you're not sure?"

"Now you mention it, I'm not certain, no."

"What did you argue about?"

"I remember arguing about me playing basketball a lot, and something to do with my friends at the time."

"But you can't be sure?"

"No… I don't remember…"

"It seems like there is a great deal that you don't remember. How often do you remember your father being physically abusive?"

"Aside from the thing with my shoulder I remember a bit of pushing or shoving but, beyond that I don't know."

"So, you don't ever remember hitting your head?"

"No, why?"

"There's an old x-ray in your medical files that appears to show some remodelled fractures."

"I was hit in the head?"

"It's more like your head hit something, but we're fairly convinced that there must have been some brain trauma; it's location would go some way towards explaining your memory problems."

"He caused brain damage?"

"It's possible it was an accident, but it is much more likely to have been inflicted during a fight."

"I don't know what to think… before Sakagami-san called the police I never thought it was abuse, and then it looked like it was deliberate; now this…"

"It's a lot to process I know, but we can help you with that. I'd like to have a doctor carry a more detailed full body scan, and an FMRI of your brain, so we can see if there's any scar tissue."

"Yeah…"

"We will schedule weekly appointments for the time being, we'll soon get you straightened out."

"Yeah… thanks."

"It's probably best that we stop here for tonight, I'm certain that you've got a lot to think about already. I'll make a report to your social worker in the morning, she'll no doubt want to talk to you herself once she's seen it." I was in a daze as I stepped out of the office; the doctor called Fujita-san to one-side and brought him up to speed.

"Tomoya, are you okay?"

"No, not really, I'm not sure of anything anymore."

"Why, what did he say?" Tomoyo's hands trembled and her face was a mask of worry.

"I… he… my dad that is, he… hit my head against something, really hard. The doctor thinks that's why I don't remember much of my childhood." Tomoyo's expression shifted from worry to horror; Fujita-san was similarly horrified.

"Come on son, let's get you home."

"Yeah." I didn't sleep a wink that night, Kadee-san insisted that I stay off for at least that day, to rest and try to get my head straight.

-Tomoyo's point of view-

"Hey, Tomoyo-san, where's Tomoya? Did you go to the bathroom or something?"

"No, he had to take the day off."

"Is he sick?"

"Not exactly, he had a psychological assessment last night."

"W-was it that bad?"

"Worse, did you know that he barely remembers any of his childhood."

"No, he never talked about it but that's all."

"He told me I could tell you about it; but it absolutely must not go any further than the two of you."

"O-of course, what happened?"

"It seems that his father's abuse was far, far worse than we ever imagined. They've found an x-ray from when he broke his shoulder, that shows that at some point before the shoulder was broken, there was a significant head injury that was never treated."

"H-how significant?" Even Kyou's eyes were filling with tears.

"He doesn't remember anything before he was seven, and very little before he was eight."

"W-we had no idea…"

"Nobody did. He's in shock at the moment and he didn't sleep at all last night, I hope that he'll be able to come to school tomorrow, he could use the distraction, so if you do see him, please don't mention any of what I've just told you."

"Of course, what will happen now?"  
"They're sending him in for some more scans, so they can see the extent of the damage, and… what else happened to him that he doesn't remember. They'll also be adding further charges to the case against his father, he won't be released for a very long time."

"Good, prison's too good for the bastard."

I woke up in the afternoon, to find Kadee sitting next to the bed reading.

"What time is it?"

"Oh good, you're awake, it's one o'clock. How do you feel?"

"I've been better, but I'll be okay. I just never thought he was so sadistic, he hit my head hard enough to crack my skull and did nothing about it."

"It's a lot to get your head around I know, I was horrified myself, so I'm sure it's a lot worse for you. Take all the time you need; we've told the school and they're going to give Tomoyo all the work you need to be able to keep up in class."

"I don't know if I want to take any more time off really, I'd rather be in school than sitting here stewing."

"As long as you're sure, if you need to take some time for yourself, then all you need to do is ask, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Tomoyo was out of her seat the second the bell rang, and she jogged home, not wanting to be away from home a second longer than she had to be.

There was a gentle knock on my bedroom door and a moment later her head poked round the door.

"Tomoya, are you awake?"

"Yeah, come on in."

"How are you doing?"

"Better, still kind of in shock but, I'm getting there. I missed you though." Tomoyo didn't need to be told twice, and she sat down next to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"I was so worried about you."

"Thanks, but you know me, I'll bounce back soon enough."

"Yes, I know, but I love you, so I still worry."

"I know, I love you too."

"The twins were worried about you too."

"I'll send them a text in a bit and let them know that I'm okay."

I didn't sleep too well that night, but it wasn't so bad that I wanted to stay off school. Given how soon they arrived in our classroom at lunch time the twins must have run all the way, most of our class were still packing away their books.

"Tomoya, a-are you okay, I know you were… ill yesterday, are you feeling better?"

"Thank you Kyou, but I'm doing okay. Come on let's go for lunch, we're building a bit of an audience here." We went out to the picnic table near the sports field, hardly anyone ever used them, so we were alone. I shared what little I'd pieced together, it wasn't much just broken images really, like a scratched DVD.

In the following week I was sent to a hospital for a series of scans to assess the damage. It was expected that we'd see more evidence of old injuries, but it didn't make it much easier to reconcile with who I had thought my father had been and what he really was like.

They found evidence of what they called a bucket handle fracture on my right arm, usually caused by the arm being grabbed and yanked sideways, there was also a number of broken ribs from a lot of different occasions.

The gathered evidence was irrefutable, I had been the subject of physical abuse dating back to shortly after my mother died, the severity of the injuries and the quantity made for uncomfortable reading. But it would see to it that my father wasn't released for a minimum of ten years, but it was likely he'll be locked up for much longer.

Doctor Harada was optimistic that I may be able to recover some of my memory through hypnosis, but I was really apprehensive, I couldn't help but think that there's probably a lot about my life that I'd rather not remember.

After my first session I remembered playing in a garden with a girl with violet hair. As always Tomoyo was waiting for me when I came out.

"How was it, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I remember a friend from when I was six."

"really? that's amazing."

"What's more, she goes to our school."

"Who is she?"

"Do you remember, after I had my IQ test, I thought I remembered the name Ichinose?"

"Yes."

"It's her, Ichinose Kotomi was my friend as a child, I remember playing in her back garden."

"Wow, do you think she'd remember you?"

"I don't know, maybe. But I need to find her first."

"Didn't Kyou say she never needs to go to class?"  
"That's the problem, but maybe her teacher would know where we could find her."

"Okay, we can go and ask at lunch time tomorrow."

"Yeah. Thanks."

The following day we went to see the teacher of her class, he told us that she'd be in the library. Shortly after we found ourselves standing the library.

"It's silly I know, but I feel really nervous, what if she doesn't remember me, or just doesn't want to talk to me?"

"You won't know until you go in and ask her."

"Yeah, here goes." I opened the door, and there she was, sitting on the floor, surrounded by books. Her hair was exactly as I remember, down to the red ornaments. "My God, it's her… it's really her." I stepped into the library; she didn't seem to have noticed me. "Kotomi?" she didn't react at all. "Kotomi, it's me Tomoya." Still nothing. "Kotomi-chan?" her impassive gaze turned toward me, then she smiled brightly.

"Tomoya-kun!" She got to her feet and ran over to me, stopping just in front of me. "I have been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?"

"Umm excuse me." Tomoyo stepped forward. Seeing her for the first time, Kotomi looked alarmed and immediately hid behind me gripping my arm as she trembled.

"I-is she a bully?"

"Kotomi-chan, calm down, she's my friend, she isn't a bully."

"S-she isn't."

"No, she's not going to harm you." Kotomi calmed down quite a bit and peered out from behind my arm.

"Hello Kotomi-chan, my name is Sakagami Tomoyo, and I would really like to be your friend." Kotomi looked up at me.

"It's fine Kotomi-chan she's my friend, you can trust her, I promise." Kotomi studied Tomoyo carefully for a moment, then stepped out from behind me.

"My name is Kotomi, call me Kotomi-chan."

"It's lovely to meet you Kotomi-chan, I hope we can become friends, Tomoya is very important to me; and he very much wanted me to meet you."

When we went to see her home room teacher, he warned us that she is at best eccentric, but they also believed that she was autistic, so she can panic easily if she is upset at all. And the other thing we were warned that her parents had both been killed in a plane crash. So it was best if we didn't mention them.

"Kotomi-chan, what did you mean when you said you had been waiting for me?"

"You were going to come to my birthday party… but you never came."

"Kotomi-chan that must have been years ago." Kotomi nodded. "I'm so sorry Kotomi-chan, I got hurt, and I lost my memory; I forgot that I knew you until just yesterday." Kotomi's eye's widened in alarm, and she started to search me for injuries. "Kotomi-chan, please calm down, it was a long time ago, I'm fine now."

"Y-you are not hurt?" She was close to tears but seemed to be calming down.

"I'm fine, I promise. Why don't we sit down and talk for a while?" We went to one of the tables and Tomoyo and I sat across the table from her, without really thinking Tomoyo placed her hand in mine. Kotomi stared at our hands, her head tilted slightly to one side.

"Tomoya-kun, is Tomoyo-chan your romantic partner?"

"That's right." In opposition to how I feared she'd react she smiled and noticeably relaxed. Presumably she decided that if we were 'romantic partners' as she put it, then Tomoyo could be trusted. "I don't remember why I didn't go to your birthday party, but I'm sorry that I did that to you."

"It does not matter; you are here again now. I have you back." Tomoyo gave me a concerned look, I'll admit it doesn't sound too good, but it could mean anything really.

"Umm, Kotomi-chan, what do you mean by that?" Kotomi looked like she didn't understand the question.

"Kotomi-chan, Tomoyo wishes to understand what you meant when you said you had me back." Kotomi considered the question.

"Tomoya-kun was my only friend, but he went away, like mommy and daddy did, but now I have my friend back; he is all I have." Kotomi's gaze had stayed fixed on Tomoyo but fell as she added her closing statement.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to find you again. But you have a new friend as well now don't you." Kotomi looked at me and then Tomoyo, then she smiled like a child with a new toy. Just as we had been warned she is eccentric, but it's probably just a function of her autism. Either way, if she thought that we were all she had in the world, there was no way I was going to abandon her.

We sat in the library and talked, at first I thought she was a bit odd, but then It occurred to me, she hasn't changed a single bit since we played in her back garden. She may have been older, but she was still the young girl I met all those years ago.

"Kotomi-chan, Tomoyo and I must return to class, but we will come back tomorrow if that's okay with you."

"Yes, yes that would be wonderful Tomoya-kun." Kotomi seemed excited at the prospect.

"Would you like it if I brought some of my other friends to meet you too?"

"T-they will not bully me?"

"No, I would never allow that, they are my friends, you can trust them, is it okay if I bring them?" She looked worried but nodded. "Don't worry, they are lovely people, and we will be here too. Okay." She nodded a bit more convincingly. "Good, then we will see you tomorrow Kotomi-chan."

"See you tomorrow Tomoya-kun, see you tomorrow Tomoyo-chan." Kotomi smiled and hugged us both goodbye. Once we were outside the library, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well that went better than I hoped."

"She seems very attached to you."

"Yeah, but if she's never had another friend and she has been alone all this time."

"Yes, suppose you're right."

"You're not jealous, are you?"

"I didn't say that…"

"But you thought it, her reaction when I told her that we were 'romantic partners' should tell you all you need to know on that front, she relaxed immediately didn't she?"

"That's true, do you really think it's a good idea to introduce the twins to her."

"She should get on like a house on fire with Fujibayashi, and Kyou has calmed down a lot too."

"You'll need to warn Kyou to be gentle with her."

"Yeah, we should tell her teacher how we got on too."

"Good idea, I'm sure he'll be quite surprised."

"You're not wrong. Come on we'd best get back to class before we're late."

At recess we went to fill in Kotomi's teacher, to say he was surprised would be an understatement. Our next objective was to get the twins onboard, so we caught them before they headed home.

"So, you remember some of your childhood now?"

"Not much, but I remember playing with her in her back garden."

"And you want us to meet her tomorrow?"

"Yes, if you don't want to that's fine, but she doesn't have any friends, she said that I was the only friend she'd ever had and now her parents are dead I was all she had."

"Onee-chan, we have to try and help her."

"Okay, we'll go see her."

The following lunch time we assembled outside the library.

"Okay, she's a bit eccentric, so bear with her a bit okay, and she probably ignore you entirely if you don't call her Kotomi-chan."

"Really?"

"She's autistic so her mind works a bit differently to yours, she will most likely try to hide from you, so don't make any sudden moves or speak too loudly; just follow my lead okay."

"Alright Tomoya, you're the boss."

"Kotomi-chan, you here?"

"Tomoya-kun, Tomoyo-chan I am pleased to see you." She sounded truly joyful as she ran over to us. Then she saw the twins. Just like yesterday she hid behind me.

"Kotomi-chan, these are the friends I wanted you to meet, they won't hurt you, come on out and say hello." She took a tentative step out from behind me. Just as we had rehearsed the twins took turns to introduce themselves. Kotomi calmed down quite a lot but she was still quite tense. "Shall we sit down and have lunch?" Kotomi look confused. "Tomoyo made us all lunch, so we can share a meal and you can get to know the girls a bit better, does that sound okay?" she smiled and headed off towards the table we had sat at yesterday, although she sat next to me this time instead of across the table.

We laid out the food that Tomoyo had put together for us, we all started to help ourselves but Kotomi didn't move right away.

"Everything okay Kotomi-chan?"

"Let us put our hands together," a little lost for words everyone did as we were told "Itadakimasu."

"That's right, we always used to do that didn't we?"

"Tomoya-kun, you remembered!" Kotomi was elated, we'd talked about my memory loss yesterday, but I hadn't been sure about how much she really understood.

"Yeah, I do, I remember… a book or a story… something like that." Kotomi gasped.

"Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you."

"Yes, that's it, it's from a book we used to read."

"That is correct Tomoya-kun, we used to read together often."

"That's great, do you remember anything else?" Tomoyo was almost as excited as Kotomi was, as she squeezed my arm. "What?" Both of the twins looked startled by Tomoyo's excitement.

"Sorry, I just that we've never seen you act so girly before."

"I can be girly too you know."

"You're just usually more… controlled I guess you'd call it."

"Well Tomoya has a way of making me less controlled."

"Does he really?" Kyou arched an eyebrow and gave me an amused look.

'_uh oh I don't like the look of that smile.'_

"So, what is it that he does that makes you go all weak at the knees?"

'_There's no way she's actually going to answer that… is there?'_

"Well he does have a very handsome smile," _'crap she is'_ "And big strong arms, that just make me feel so safe and loved, he's a really, really good kisser too." Fujibayashi was bright red by now, and Kyou wasn't too far behind.

"Look at that dreamy look in her eyes, she totally smitten." Fujibayashi nodded, whilst Kotomi seemed to be trying to analyse Tomoyo's reaction.

"I too feel quite safe around Tomoya-kun, although I do not understand why."

"Don't worry about it Kotomi-chan there's just something about some men that makes a girl feel safe." The way Kotomi looked me up and down, made me feel like a lab experiment.

"It is possible it is a combination of pheromone response and the physical dimensions of the subject."

"So, he's big and smells good, is what you're saying."

"In the abstract, I believe you are correct, yes."

"That's all very fascinating, but can we move on to something else now?"

Sadly, the ladies declined to change the subject. Kind of embarrassing but at least it meant that they were all taking quite comfortably. They decided that they would all take turns to cook lunch, well except for Fujibayashi anyway.

That's pretty much how life went for the next three months, lots and lots of study, occasional visits to Doctor Harada, I did recover some more minor memories, but not much else. I talked to Fujita-san quite a bit as I looked into possibly going to study architecture at uni, the more I thought about it the more appealing the idea became, I decided that architecture was what I wanted to do.

Komura-sensei decided I was ready to start taking the first-year exams, so Saturday afternoon became a lot more stressful, but the sense of achievement I got from doing them was well worth it. When it came to the results of the exams, the lowest score I got was 95%; but I was the only one that didn't expect that to be the case, but pretty much everyone was surprised at how rapidly I was taking the syllabus on board.

It was only a month after I began taking the first-year exams that I took the last one; I could then begin taking the exams I had missed from the current school year. My test scores were consistently extremely high, so I ended up running second on the league tables, this had the unfortunate effect of bumping Tomoyo down to fourth, not that she minded; she always seemed more excited about my results than I was.

Although Tomoyo's prediction about my learning rate and the difficulty of the normal syllabus did prove to be correct.

"Have you finished the homework already?"

"Yeah, why? haven't you?"

"No, I'm only halfway through."

"Oh…"

"I think you need to find something else to learn."

"Really?"

"You're bored, aren't you?"

"Kind of yeah."

"See if Takafumi has any computer books you could take a look at."

"Good idea."

"Us luddites do have them now and then."

"Luddite huh."

"You do know what that means don't you?"

"Yeah, but I don't own a loom, so I didn't think it was a big problem."

"Loom?"

"Yeah, you know, as in Ned Ludd, 18th century English anti automation protestor."

"Oh… I just meant as in someone who isn't very technically minded."

"I guess that makes more sense."

"Yeah, where did you even learn that anyway?"

"Oh, Kotomi left a history book out."

"You make it sound like everyone learns that fast."

"Sorry, it's just how my brain works I guess."

"Like a sponge you mean."

"Did you want any help with the homework?"

"No, I'm fine thanks, just go and find a computer book to inhale."

"Are you sure, I really don't mind helping."

"I know you don't, but you tend to be more distracting than helpful, and stop breathing on my neck, it's really ticklish."

"You say that, but the smile on your face says otherwise."

"It can say what it likes, I still need to finish my homework."

"Alright, I can take a hint."

"Eventually yes, now scram."

Takafumi didn't have that many books on the subject as it happens, but he did offer to teach me what he knew; it would be slower than working through a book, but it would give me an opportunity to get to know him better as well.

Just as I was beginning to get comfortable in my new home and adjust to the change to my lifestyle; my dad's court case began. Just as Mitzaki-san had told me I was not required to attend the same court room, and my testimony was going to be given via a video link. But Doctor Harada suggested that it may help me to come to terms with what he had done to me, if I were to face him in person.

The thought of seeing him again filled me with apprehension, far more so than I expected it to, that realisation confirmed that Doctor Harada was probably correct, I couldn't afford to be carrying this fear around with me for the rest of my life, I needed to face it; to face him.


	4. Chapter 4 - Healing

**Chapter 4 - Healing**

Day one of the trial was short, and little more than a reading of the charges and entering his plea. Simply being in the same room as him made my pulse quicken, and my hands tremble, knowing the extent of his barbarity I could never see him way I did before, I knew all too well what his calm affable exterior hid a sadistic, angry, monster. Even as the extensive list of charges was read out, his calm smile never shifted.

The following day when he was called to the stand his expression never changed even as he asked to account for the injuries he'd inflicted, I didn't hear a word of his defence; my heart was pounding, and I felt an intense rising panic grip me and squeeze my chest tight.

"Tomoya? Tomoya, can you hear me?"

"I… I can't be here, I-I have to go…" overcome with terror I ran from the courtroom, shaken to my core; the world around me faded as I lost consciousness.

"Tomoya, can you hear me?! Please wake up, please… Tomoya!" A faint voice called my name, pleading, over and over.

"NO! Please… I didn't… Please!" Someone was sitting very close to me, all I knew was I needed to get away, I pushed them away and my arms flailed, as I tried to escape, but my wrists were held tightly, I couldn't break free.

"Tomoya! It's me! Please calm down… It's me, Tomoyo!" My fear began to subside, and the fog lifted as the world returned to focus.

"T-Tomoyo…" Breathing hard and my heart was pounding, I looked around and tried to make sense of where I was, and what had happened.

"Tomoya, can you understand me?" Tomoyo was still holding on to my wrists.

"Where am I? What happened?"

"Oh, thank God, you scared me." A second face appeared next to Tomoyo, I instinctively tried to get away from this unknow person. "Tomoya, it's okay, he's a doctor, you're safe now."

"What happened? How did I get here?"

"You had a panic attack, you're in the hospital."

"But, my dad…"

"Can't get to you, you're safe here."

"Right… yeah, I knew that…"

"Just sit back and rest, the doctor is going to put an oxygen mask on you, it'll help you feel better, okay?"

"Yeah… okay." A few minutes later and my heart rate was gradually returning to normal.

"Is it okay if I let my parents in? They're worried about you."

"Yeah, that's fine, I'm alright now I think." Tomoyo opened the door and let Kadee-san and Fujita-san in.

"Good to have you back, how do you feel?"

"A bit shaky and confused, but I'm okay, thanks."

"Any idea what set you off?"

"I'm not sure, I just remember him looking at me, that's it."

"Okay, don't worry about it. We'll get you an appointment with Doctor Harada, see if we can help you get past it okay?"

"Look can we get out of here? I'd rather just go home."

"I talk to the doctor and see if they need to do anything else."

"Thanks." They didn't hold on to me too much longer, so we managed to get home within an hour, I was totally exhausted, so I ended up taking a nap despite it being only 1 pm. It was a couple of hours later that I woke up, to find Tomoyo watching me.

"Hey… how long have you been there?"

"Right after you fell asleep, you were having a nightmare, do you remember what it was about?"

"I'm not sure, I was at my dad's place. I think I was in the under-stairs closet; I don't remember anything else." Tomoyo came over and hugged me.

"I was so scared, when you collapsed, you kept shouting that you hadn't done anything wrong."

"We'll get it all straightened out, I guess I just wasn't ready to see him again; the doc will sort me out, good as new, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"There are times that wish I'd never remembered anything at all."

"But then you wouldn't have found Kotomi, and she'd still be waiting for you to come back."

"Double edged sword I guess, I'll be glad when the court case is over and done with."

"Yeah, then I can have my happy, cheerful Tomoya back again."

I went to see Doctor Harada the following day, he gave me some breathing exercises to do if I felt another panic attack coming on, he wanted to try hypnosis again to see if we could work out what the nightmare was about, I had the same nightmare a few times over the following weeks, but after a couple of hypnosis sessions I stopped having those.

From what we managed to recover, it seems that my dad had locked me in the under stairs closet a few times after he had beaten me, it was a pretty small closet, so I probably didn't fit into it after I was about seven.

Doctor Harada recommended that I didn't go back to court again, it was more likely to set back my recovery further. One day when I was ready to face him, I could go to the prison. But for the time being my testimony would be taken via a remote video link.

The only time my dad lost his affable smile was when the jury gave their verdict, guilty on all charges. From what the prosecutor told me my dad had seemed convinced that he'd be found innocent, he genuinely didn't think he had done anything wrong.

I put serious thought to going to the sentencing, but Tomoyo flat out refused to let me go, even if it meant she had to pin me to the floor to stop me. It doesn't take a genius to work out what I decided to do; the judge took particular issue with my dad's demeanour throughout the trial, citing his total lack of remorse, the judge handed down a sentence of twenty years without parole. I would be nearly forty before he was released. To say I was relieved would be the understatement of the century.

We invited Kotomi and the twins out for ice cream to celebrate.

"Alright Tomoya, we're here and I'm not one to say no to free ice cream, but what are we celebrating?"

"We are celebrating the incarceration of my father; he was sentenced yesterday."

"That's great news, how long did he get?"

"Twenty years without parole."

"Wow, that's awesome."

"Wonderful news Tomoya-kun."

"That's really good news Okazaki-kun."

"It's a relief I'll say that much."

"So, do you think you'll be able to move on now?"

"I'd be lying if I said I thought it would be that easy, but it'll definitely help."

"I'm just glad to see you smiling again, you've been so tense lately, you haven't even been able to concentrate on studying."

"Study? I thought you'd got all caught up?"

"I did, but I've been getting a little bored since the amount of study I need to do dropped off."

"You got bored… because there wasn't enough studying to do?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Tomoya?"

"Very funny, Kyou, thanks for that."

"The problem was, he'd finish the homework in like half an hour, then bug me until I either got him to go away or let him help me with my homework."

"Half an hour?"

"Yeah… what's wrong with that?"

"We're supposed to get between one and a half and two hours of homework per day."

"Really? I've never heard that before."

"Whatever, what have you been studying instead then?"

"I've been trying to lean a bit more about computers, Takafumi gave me a few lessons but he ran out of stuff to show me, so got a few books out from the library; but I haven't really been able to concentrate lately."

"Who's Takafumi?"

"Tomoyo's little brother; he's a good kid, totally idolises Tomoyo."

"And you too."

"Me?"

"You didn't think he started calling you Onii-san as a joke, did you?"

"I hadn't really thought about it."

It felt good to just get out and spend time with my friends again, it felt like a really long time since there had been able to think about anything that wasn't study or something about the court case.

"You know, when I think about it, Kotomi does treat you more like a big brother than anything else."

"By anything else you mean boyfriend, don't you?"

"I guess I do but I don't think she ever treated you like that, but brother makes more sense."

"If I'm the big brother, then does that make you the little sister?"

"How do you think she'd react if I called her Onee-chan?"

"Hard to say really, frankly she flat out ignores anyone that doesn't call her Kotomi-chan, so she may not react at all; that or she'd look at you like you you've sprouted an extra head."

"I just think that maybe it would do her good if she felt like she had family."

"Yeah, I see where you're coming from, as long as we avoid the parent thing, I figure we're fairly safe. But I'd like to look into autism a bit more first, I don't want to end up doing something that is against her best interests in the long run."

"So, have you found anything useful?"

"Hmm?"

"You've been staring at that screen for a couple of hours now, anything useful?"

"Maybe, but I've got more questions than answers at the moment."

"Like what?"

"Like is she actually autistic or has someone just decided that she is? The more I look into it the less sure I am about the diagnosis; I'm no expert, but it seems more like arrested development to me."  
"Really?"  
"Well, she shows the full gamut of emotions fairly normally, so she'd have to be pretty low on the autistic spectrum, she doesn't react badly to sudden changes in environment or schedule. I remember thinking a while ago that she was exactly like she was when we were kids, she's very shy and meeting new people is stressful for her; but think about the first question she asked when you met her, and the twins too."

"Is she a bully…"

"All that says to me is that she was bullied at some point in her formative years."

"That does make sense."

"Emotional or physical trauma can anchor a person to that point in their life, I don't think you'd get too much more traumatic emotionally for a child than losing both parents, she's never had anyone there to show her how to move on from that trauma; so she got stuck."

"Can she be unstuck?"

"Maybe, like I said I'm not an expert. I think it may be worth asking her teacher if Kotomi has ever had a proper diagnosis, aside from that, I'll see if Doctor Harada can give me any advice."

"You're seeing Doctor Harada to help _you_ not Kotomi."

"Is that your objection, or is it what you think Doctor Harada will say?"

"Both."

"How about I ask him if he'd mind giving me some advice after my session, how about that."

"Hmm, alright, but only after your session is finished, seeing you having that panic attack was really, really scary, so I won't allow anyone to hold back your treatment, including you."

"I love you too."

"Well, thank you… hey, you're not getting around me that easily."

"I wasn't trying to, I felt that your commitment to my treatment, said quite clearly that you love me, that's all I meant."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry, I don't want to feel like I did again any more than you want to see me like that again, okay?"

"Okay."

"Better still, she may be persuaded to go and see the good Doctor herself."

"That would be ideal."

"Either way, I haven't found anything that would suggest that you calling her Onee-chan could cause any problems; however, I'm not sure we should push to much information at once. She already thinks of you as a good friend, so I'm not certain that there'd be that much benefit just now; having said that, if you really want her to think of you that way then we can bring it up later on."

I spoke to the doc after my next session, but he wouldn't make any kind of diagnosis or recommendation on treatment without first seeing Kotomi in person.

Talking to Kotomi's teacher he didn't know if she'd had a true diagnosis or not, Tomoyo and I decided that our best course of action would be to try and get Kotomi to see Doctor Harada herself. But how do I bring up the subject?

"Kotomi-chan, how are you today?"

"Onii-san, Tomoyo-chan it is good to see you, are you well Onii-san?"

"I'm okay, thank you Kotomi-chan, Doctor Harada has been very helpful."

"That's right Tomoya hasn't had any nightmares for a few days now, so I'm very grateful to Doctor Harada, I've got my happy Tomoya back thanks to him."

"That is wonderful news Tomoyo-chan, I was quite worried myself."

"I appreciate that Kotomi-chan, we've been trying to recover some more memories lately."

"Have you remembered anything further?"

"A little here and there, but I still can't remember my mother at all. I did remember a little of your mother actually."

"You remembered Mommy?"

"I'm pretty sure it was her; we were in your back garden." Kotomi's face seemed a little troubled. "If it makes you uncomfortable talking about your parents then we can talk about something else."

"It is upsetting when I think about mommy and daddy, so try to avoid doing so."

"Don't you think it would be nice if you could remember the happy times you had with them? I don't remember my Mom at all, but I really wish I could remember something about her."

"I am uncertain… what do you think Tomoyo-chan?"

"I agree with Tomoya, not all of my memories of my family are good, but we've had a lot of fun together too; I'd never want to forget those times." Kotomi sat quietly for a while, just looking down at the table.

"Onii-san, I am unsure of the correct course of action; what should I do?"

"I can't really answer that for you, it's something you need to decide for yourself, but I do think that it would be a good idea to speak to someone like Doctor Harada."

"You trust Doctor Harada?"

"I do; if at any point you feel like it's too much, you can stop; but I really think it could help you."

"W-would you come with me?"

"Of course, we'll always be there for you when you need us, okay?" Kotomi looked at Tomoyo and me, her eyes were a little teary, but she smiled.

"Thank you, it is good to have friends again, I will go and see Doctor Harada."

"It doesn't have to be him; you could see if there's a female doctor if you'd be more comfortable."

"No, if you trust Doctor Harada then I believe that I can also trust him." I handed Kotomi the doc's card.

"Give him a call and make an appointment, then let us know if you want us to be there for you, okay?"

"I will, thank you Tomoya-kun."

A little over a week later were sitting in Doctor Harada's waiting room with Kotomi.

"Ah, Tomoya-san, I don't have you down for an appointment today."

"That alright doc we're here to support Kotomi-chan today."

"I see, you must be Ichinose-san then."

"That is correct." Kotomi was really nervous and was avoiding eye contact.

"Would you like to come with me, so we can make a start?"

"Umm… C-could Tomoya-kun come with me?"

"I'd prefer it if he didn't, but if it's the only way you can be comfortable the I suppose it's acceptable."

"Kotomi-chan, you can trust Doctor Harada, I'll go in with you if you really need me to, but I think it'd be best if I didn't." Kotomi looked at Tomoyo, then at me again.

"I am uncertain."

"Kotomi-chan, Doctor Harada has helped Tomoya a great deal, but even I wouldn't intrude on his sessions." Kotomi thought for a moment.

"Very well." She stood up and took a tentative step toward the office.

"We'll be right here if you need us." Kotomi nodded and followed Doctor Harada.

I had half expected Kotomi to leave the office before the end of the session, but she stayed put, I couldn't say if she was actually talking to him but it's a start.

"Does it feel as long as this when you're waiting for me?"

"Yes, I always worry that you're going to discover something really bad and be upset when you come out."

"Yeah I always felt the same way before a session." Time dragged on and on. "Do you ever bring a book or something to pass the time?"

"I brought my homework with me once, but I ended up reading the same paragraph five times, so I gave up."

When Kotomi did eventually come out she was teary eyed but composed.

"Are you okay Kotomi-chan?"

"I am… well, thank you Tomoya-kun."

"So, how'd it go?"

"I believe that Doctor Harada can help me."

"I'm glad to hear it. Thanks doc."

"You're welcome Tomoya-san; I'll see you again next week Kotomi-chan, but if you have any difficulties, please give me a call, Okay?"

"Yes, thank you doctor." I knew better than to pry into what they talked about during the session, but I couldn't help but be curious about it.

Over the coming weeks both Kotomi and I continued to see doctor Harada, Kotomi had seemed unsettled emotionally after a couple of her sessions, but I've had the same reaction a few times myself so I decided the if she needed to talk about it then she knew that we'd listen.

Occasional bumps in the road notwithstanding we were both doing pretty well, although I was still finding my inability to remember my mother extremely frustrating; Doctor Harada said he found my frustration more interesting than my inability to remember her; his thinking was that it had more to do with my father than it did my mother, I was most likely searching for something I could call family; it goes without saying really that my father didn't fit into that category, he also found it interesting that I had stopped referring to him as "my dad" and started to use father instead; apparently I was the only one who hadn't noticed that I had done it.

"Tomoya, have you thought about doing a web search to see if you can find anything about your Mom that way?"

"Yeah, I tried that about three weeks ago, I couldn't find a thing."

"I should have known you'd be way ahead of me already."

"I'm waiting for a response to a births, deaths and marriages inquiry at the moment; I should hear back by the end of next week."

"What are you hoping to find out with that?"

"Mostly I'm hoping I can find some surviving relatives, you know work up something like a family tree, there could be an aunt or uncle out there somewhere."

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"I only thought about it a couple of weeks back myself; no idea if it'll actually work out yet, but nothing ventured nothing gained and all that."

"I'm glad to hear you sounding so optimistic again, you've been a bit more reserved since the court case."

"I know, the doc said something about me being in a kind of emotional limbo because I essentially lost my father when it started to come out that he'd been abusive. He said it was almost like my father died, that's why I suddenly stopped calling him dad, but I couldn't really mourn the loss because he wasn't actually dead."

"Huh… that actually makes sense."

"Yeah, I said the same thing myself."

"So, you're looking for surviving family members so you can feel like you have a family again."

"Actually no; Doctor Harada feels that it may help me remember my mom if I can find out a little about her or better still see a picture."

"How does that help?"

"Because if I remember her, then I can mourn her and begin to heal."

"But how does that stop you having panic attacks because of your dad?"

"Look at it this way; before I started therapy I didn't like seeing him, but it didn't cause any fear response, but when we started to go back and remembering my childhood it brought back the fear of the beatings along with it; in a sense I'm stuck in the same way as Kotomi, I was just more adept at hiding it. So, if I can deal with the trauma of losing my Mom I can move forward again and get past the fear."

"All sounds pretty complicated, but if it means I get my Tomoya back I'll do what I can to help."

"Your Tomoya huh, I like the sound of that."

"Good, because you don't get a say in it anymore."

"Didn't think so somehow."

The resulting paperwork from the inquiry I was waiting for me when we arrived home on the Friday, I was presented with a stack of paper about four inches thick, Okazaki is a more common name than I thought it was.

"Well at least it'll stop you getting bored for a couple of nights."

"True, could be a bit longer than that honestly, but somewhere in here is a clue to my past… probably."

Three hours and half a dozen paper cuts later.

"I've found something, more a someone actually but still. I've found a living relative."

"Great, who have you found?"

"Okazaki Shino, my paternal grandmother. I don't know if she knew my mother well, or at all really but it's a start."

"Do you have an address for her?"

"No, but it shouldn't be hard to find that."

"What then?"

"I write to her, see if she even wants to communicate with me, then see what she knows about my Mom; I can carry on trawling through this lot while I wait for her to answer."

"I'm not sure how good I feel about it being _his_ mother though."

"Same here, but it's a lead, and you never know she may turn out to be nice."

"She could scarcely be worse than _him, _could she?"

"I certainly hope not."

It took two weeks for me to get a reply to my introduction letter, what surprised me was she didn't mention my father once; I can only assume that they were estranged at some point, she mentioned having last seen me when I was about five, so it must have been around the time that my mom died, but before or after wasn't clear.

My next letter to her was a little more on point, I asked directly if she knew anything about my mom, but I didn't mention the fact my father was now in prison for abusing me; it's possible that she was in contact with him and already knew, but I didn't get that impression from the first letter she sent to me.

The response to my letter was even more encouraging, she mentioned our having a number of holidays together before my Mom's death, but after she died my father refused any kind of help, and eventually he stopped responding to her letters and phone calls, the last she knew of us was six months after my mom died, when she tried once more to call him and found out he had moved house and hadn't left a forwarding address.

I decided it was time to stop dancing around the issue and tell her what was going on, I added a phone number to the end of the letter as well, hopefully I could have a family after all.

The very day the letter would have arrived at her address the phone rang.

"Oba-san, I hoped that you would call me eventually, but I'll admit I didn't expect it to happen so soon."

"I was so pleased that you gave me your number, I couldn't help myself."

"Good to know, I wish I had known that I still had a living relative sooner, but I was always told I didn't have any relatives."

"Well, we've found one another again now, I only wish I was under better circumstances; I have no idea where I went so wrong with your father, he always had a temper, but when he met your mother, he wasn't so angry anymore."

"So, did you know my mom well?"

"Oh, yes, we got on very well in fact."

"What can you tell me about her, I have a lot of gaps in my memory because of what happened, so I don't remember her at all."

"That's terrible… your mother was very intelligent and a uniquely calm woman, nothing ever seemed to phase her, I think that's why she had such a positive effect on your father; she had a mischievous side to her too, the two of you were always playing little pranks on us."

"Do you have any pictures of her I could have a copy of? I remember she had long hair, but that's all I remember of her at the moment."

"I have quite a few as it happens, I'll get them sent to you first thing in the morning."

"Thank you, Oba-san, that would be great."

"You are most welcome Tomoya; tell me a little about yourself, you didn't say much in your letters."

I filled her in on what had happened over the last couple of years in a bit more detail than I had in the letter I had sent her, it wasn't all so good for her to hear, but I felt like it would have made my current situation make less sense if I didn't tell her; if she knows where I came from, then she can see how far I have come, and how much better off I am now.

"I see, he's really put you through a lot hasn't he. But all of that is behind you now, I'll get the photos you wanted to you as quickly as I can; if there's anything else I can do for you, I would be glad to help. I hope you will keep in touch it has been nice to hear from you again, especially after I had thought you lost to me for so long. And take good care of that girl of yours, she sounds like a wonderful person."

"I will Oba-san, thank you; I'll speak to you again soon."

"I look forward to it."

Moments after I put the phone down a head poked into the room.

"So, how did it go? You were on the phone for quite a while so it can't have gone too badly."

"She was really nice; she remembers my mom well and she has lots of pictures that she's going to send me."

"That's brilliant news, what else did she say?"

"She told me a little about my mom, she was very intelligent according Oba-san, and very calm, but mischievous as well; apparently we used to play pranks on them together a lot."

"It sounds like you really took after her."

"Yeah, I hope so. She said she wanted to stay in touch too, and she said I had to take good care of you."

"You told her about me?"

"Of course I did, I wouldn't have any of what I have now if it wasn't for you."

"I just thought you'd spend most of the time talking about your childhood."

"We did a bit, and as much as I do want to know, I'm also leery of finding out too much in one go and overloading myself with new information and emotions that I can't handle all at once."

"I don't know if I'd be so restrained in the same situation."

"I'd probably have pushed it a bit more, but I was starting to feel a little tight across my chest when I was telling her what had been happening; so, I figured I'd play it safe." Tomoyo looked concerned, understandable when you think how bad my panic attack was.

"But you're okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; the breathing exercises the doc gave me helped."

"Well, alright then, but tell me right away if you feel it coming back again; okay?"

"I will, thanks."

Three days after that I arrived home from school to find a large padded envelope waiting for me; I wanted to tear it open right away, but I decided to wait until I had finished all of my homework and had dinner. There was a good chance that it would cause a strong emotional response.

Tomoyo and I sat and looked through the pile of photos together, we had been looking for nearly half and a hour and nothing had really jumped out at me yet, although Tomoyo said that I had her eyes, the one thing that did strike me about the pictures was, she was always smiling or laughing, I didn't exactly remember anything, but that smile did make me feel something hard to define, a sort of warm ticklish feeling; a few of the pictures had my farther in as well, but I didn't really feel any kind of reaction to it thankfully.

Opening the last pack of photos, the picture on top caused me to take a sharp intake of breath.

"What, did you remember something?"

It was of my Mom and I on a picnic blanket on a bright sunny day, she was wearing a white, wide brimmed hat with a blue ribbon around it.

"What is it?"

My hands began to tremble, I could barely hold the picture still.

"I remember… sunflowers."

"Sunflowers?"

"Yeah, we… played hide and seek… in a field full of sunflowers…" My vision blurred, and the words caught in my throat, I took a long shuddering breath as tear began to stream down my cheeks.

"I remember…"


	5. Chapter 5 - Achievements

**Chapter 5 – Achievements**

Tomoyo cradled my head as I cried, I wasn't able to regain composure for nearly half an hour, and the experience left me feeling exhausted; I couldn't tell you if they were tears of joy, relief or grief, if I'm honest with myself I'll probably never quite work it out.

I had hoped that this breakthrough would allow me to remember even more memories of my Mom but sadly this was not the case; I had a strong image of her smiling at me, but I didn't remember anything else; it was a start however, so maybe Doctor Harada could help me remember more. Despite my exhaustion, I had a restless night, something the twins picked up on immediately.

"Tomoya, is everything alright? I haven't seen you look this tired since you switched class."

"I didn't sleep too well last night, the pictures Oba-san said she'd send arrived yesterday."

"Was there something bad in them?"

"No, nothing like that, but there was a picture that triggered a memory of my Mom."

"That's great news, what did you remember?"  
"I appreciate that you're happy for me, but I'm having trouble regulating my emotions when I think about it at the moment, so I'm not quite ready to share just yet."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry, I just knew you really wanted to remember her, so I got excited for you."

"It's nothing you need to apologise for Kyou, I just need a little time first; I'm seeing Doctor Harada tomorrow, so maybe he can help me straighten my head out a bit."

"I hope so, I'd hate to see you go back to falling asleep on your desk again."

"I don't think there's any risk of that, Tomoyo has quite pointy elbows."

Doctor Harada was very pleased to hear I had finally remembered something about my mother, he also said that my reaction to the memory was an encouraging sign, I'm not sure how crying for half an hour straight becomes encouraging, but I'll take his word for it; that first session was pretty tough going emotionally, where I had pulled back initially to avoid more of a breakdown, he made me push forward and focus on it more. It was a far from pleasant experience to be honest, but by the end of the session I was beginning to feel a little more in control than I did when I first remembered her.

I must have looked pretty rough by the time I got out of the office, because Tomoyo immediately sprang to her feet and wrapped her arms around me, just her presence had been a calming force many times already, most notably when I had my panic attack, I hadn't really noticed it before but I felt a warmth and comfort from her embrace, I didn't really want to let go.

"Are you alright Tomoya? You look terrible."

"It was a tough session I'll admit, but I really feel like we've made progress today. And thank you, your hugs always make me feel better."

"Good, you can have as many hugs as you need, I'm not going anywhere."

"You'll get me all emotional again at this rate; let's go home, I'm absolutely exhausted."

"Okay, we can get a takeaway on our way home, then you can get an early night."

"Trying to get an emotionally vulnerable man into bed? I guess it's true when they say you've got to look out for the quiet ones." Tomoyo didn't answer, but she did go a little bit pink.

The next few weeks were something of a blur, Tomoyo had even more meetings to attend than usual, she was on the final push toward saving the sakura trees now so she was going to be pretty much flat out for a while, it became more of a rarity for her to be able to join Kotomi, the twins and myself for lunch, so most of the time it was just the four of us; we still got to walk to and from school together, so we still had some time together every day.

Toward the end of an especially busy week Tomoyo had been complaining of headaches quite a lot so her Dad sent her off to see the doctor, unfortunately the only available appointment clashed with my appointment with Doctor Harada, so I wasn't able to go with her; when I got back home she was already there, and looking pretty worried.

"How did it do at the doctor's?"

"You think I'm pretty, don't you?" There was an uncharacteristic uncertainty in her voice.

"Yes, of course I do, what's wrong?" She shifted uncomfortably.

"Well… it's just… do you think you'll still think I'm pretty if I had to wear glasses?"

"Glasses?" There was genuine concern on her face as she looked up at me. "I don't think it'll make any difference at all."

"Really?"

"You'll still be just as beautiful with glasses as you are without them, besides some people really suit glasses, you'll probably look really good in them." The smile returned to her face, and she relaxed noticeably. "Did you really think I wouldn't find you as attractive if you wore glasses?"

"No not really… but I still felt a bit unsure."

"What can I say, girls really are quite complicated I guess."

"That's right, I'm glad you understand." She gazed up at me with a big smile and slightly rosy cheeks.

"So, when do you get them?"

"I'm going to go and look at frames on Saturday after school."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"I was hoping you'd say that, things have been a bit manic lately, so I haven't been able to spend as much time with you as I'd like."

"It's as good an excuse for a lunch date as I can think of, if we're going to be out anyway."

"You read my mind."

"Does that mean you can read mine?"

"I don't need to read your mind to know what you're thinking about."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"How was your appointment tonight?"

"No crying today if that's what you're asking."

"It wasn't but I'm glad, I hate seeing you like that."

"I'm not exactly fond of turning into a blubbering mess myself, but it's getting easier."

"To talk about your Mom, you mean?"

"Yeah, I guess it's just a bit harder to reconcile emotions when your memory is like swiss cheese. I'll remember something but I have no idea when that was. Plus, it's not always good memories I remember."

"But you're still feeling better about it all."

"By and large yes."

"Well you've definitely been more positive the last couple of weeks."

"I hadn't noticed to be honest."

"Yeah, you've always been better at noticing other people's emotions than your own."

"The doc said the same thing last week actually."

"What did he have to say about that?"

"That it was great that I could read other people's emotions so easily, but I need to be more aware of my own emotional condition. But we're working on that."

The remainder of the week passed uneventfully, aside from Tomoyo getting unreasonably excited about our lunch date.

"I'm pleased that you're excited about our date, but don't you think you're getting a little _too_ excited about it." Tomoyo made a vague attempt at a pout but couldn't maintain it.

"But when was the last time we went out on a date?"

"Let me think… I'm not sure."

"Exactly, we've put a high priority on spending time together, but I'm not sure we've ever been on a conventional date."

"What about the first Saturday we were together? We had lunch together then."

"We had a sandwich in the school canteen and then spent the whole afternoon kissing."

"Alright I'll give you that one, how about… no, what about… no. you may be right, I feel really guilty now."

"Well, life has been a bit complicated lately and I've been so busy with the sakura trees, but I've enjoyed every minute we've been together, and I don't honestly think I've missed out on something, it just makes me feel a bit giggly about actually going on a 'date' with you."

"Alright, but maybe we should do more 'date' like things anyway; you're cute when you're giggly."

"What do you think we should do first, date or glasses?"

"Let's sort you out with your glasses first, then we've got the rest of the day to ourselves."

"Okay."

Choosing glasses turned out to take a lot longer than I had hoped it would, but Tomoyo kept doing the brushing her hair over her ear quite a lot so I was well entertained. She eventually settled on a pair with thin, silver rims and black arms. They looked really good on her actually.

"Your specs are going to be ready in two hours, so let's go and get lunch and maybe go for a walk in the park after that, we can go and get your specs."

"Sounds like you've got it all planed out, where are we going for lunch then?"

"There's a posh café nearby that I had in mind, unless there's somewhere else you'd rather go?"

"No, that sounds lovely, I was just pleasantly surprised that you'd put so much thought into it."

"Well it's like you said, we haven't been able to spend that much time together lately, so I wanted to make it a bit special."

"You really are a big softy, aren't you?"

"Hey, not so loud, do you want everyone to find out my secret?"

"Sorry, what was I thinking?"

We had a really nice meal, Tomoyo was grinning the entire time, it didn't go unnoticed by the other students that saw us; It seems I still had a bit of a reputation lingering, most of the looks we got weren't what you'd call friendly; Tomoyo didn't seem to notice.

As we wandered around the park in the afternoon sun, Tomoyo practically dangled off my arm, smiling and occasionally sighing contentedly.

"Have you noticed the looks people have been giving us?"

"What people?"

"From school."

"Boy or girls?"

"Umm, now that you mention it's mostly girls."

"Jealousy is an ugly thing."

"What?"

"They're jealous of me."

"Of you? Why are they jealous of you?"

"Because I'm with you, you've become even more popular with the girls since you turned your life around."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"I know, you're oblivious to any girl that isn't me."

"Well that's true. Although it sounds weird when you say it."

"But it's one of the things I love most about you."

"You're just trying to make me blush now, aren't you?"

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean it isn't true."

"Come on, let's go get your specs, shall we?"

"Spoil sport."

Once we'd collected Tomoyo's glasses we decided that weren't ready for our date to end just yet, so I bought us some ice-cream and we headed back to the park, where we sat under a shady tree and snuggled up while we finished our ice-cream.

"We should bring a picnic next time… hey are you listening?"

"Sorry… I think I remember coming here with my Mom."

"Really, what do you remember?"

"It was a picnic I think… there was a red ball, I can't quite remember, it's like it's just out of reach."

"Shows you what kids focus on though doesn't it, food and a ball are the first things you remember."

"Yeah I guess that's true, it's just maddening it feels just out of my grasp."

"Well, it's the calmest I've seen you when you've remembered something."

"I hadn't noticed, then again you do have a way of calming me down."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yeah, it was your voice that pulled me back out of that panic attack, I remember that quite clearly."

"You did stop fighting when I said my name."

"Fighting?"

"Don't you remember? You were trying to push me away."

"No, all I remember was your voice."

"Well it's good to know I have that effect on you."

"Yeah… I think the ball had a face on it."

"What like a clown or something?"

"No, I don't think so… we should probably get going home, it's getting late."

"Don't you want to stay and see if you can remember something else?"  
"No, the doc told me not to try too hard to remember something, he described it like trying to hold water in your hands, if you try to hold on too hard you lose it all together."

"A lot of the things he says sound like they're out of a fortune cookie if you ask me."

"I hadn't thought of that; I just hope I can keep a straight face next time he says something like that."

"Sorry." Tomoyo was doing a really bad job of trying not to laugh.

"You really, really don't look sorry."

Two weeks later we were waiting in the town hall while the final critical vote to decide the fate of the sakura trees was taking place, Tomoyo was trying very hard to look calm and composed, but the way her fingers were drumming on the folder she was holding said she was far from calm.

"Tomoyo, calm down, we've both seen the opinion polls already, this vote is mostly a formality."

"I know, but I can't help it, after all the work we've put into saving those trees, it's finally come down to this."

"This being a foregone conclusion."

"More or less." The drumming fingers resumed.

"So, what do you want to do after school on Saturday?"

"You're asking me now?"

"Yes I am. How about a picnic? The weather isn't going to be warm enough for that much longer."

"That sounds nice, but what do you want to do about food, we can't lug a picnic basket around school all morning."

"We could just nip home and grab it; we wouldn't lose much time and we don't have anything getting in the way at school."

"That's not a bad idea, we could get changed too, so we can be a bit more comfortable."

"Sounds like a plan, what sort of food do you want?"

"Well, we don't want anything too heavy, or anything too pungent, we wouldn't want bad breath."

"We can bring a flask of tea, so the breath thing shouldn't be a problem."

"Good idea… wait you're just trying to distract me, aren't you?"

"Trying? I thought I was doing a pretty good job of it."

"You were, and I appreciate the effort but…"

"Sakagami-san, the vote has been completed."

We were shown back into the council chamber to hear the verdict. The Mayor stood at a podium in the middle of the large grandiose chamber. It was only then that I noticed a TV camera and a news crew.

"psst…"

"_what?"_

"_Did you know they were going to be here?" _I pointed to the news crew.

"_No, nobody has mentioned it, but it does make sense for them to be here."_

"_Yea, but aren't you supposed to give a speech or something?"_ Tomoyo's face fell.

"_Yes, I am."_

"_Just do your best like always, you'll be great."_

"Ladies and gentlemen, we gathered here today to determine the fate of the grove of sakura trees on the school approach. It is a great pleasure to announce that by unanimous vote, this council has voted to preserve the sakura trees, and place a conservation order on the site, so that future generations may enjoy them.

Over the last few months it has been a great pleasure to work with the originator of the campaign to preserve the sakura trees, the student council president of Hikarizaka Private High School, Sakagami Tomoyo, she has worked tirelessly and passionately, her devotion to the future of this town gives me hope that the next generation of council members can work to make the town even better.

Sakagami-san, would like to say a few words?"

"I bite the bullet in order to prevent the loneliness. if we hadn't known the row of sakura trees would have been gone, we wouldn't have found the fortune given by them.

Because all we did nothing, except for making the grade by might and main…" Tomoyo's speech seemed to be having an effect on those listening, but she had chosen to give her speech in English, there was a reason, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was, sadly English is not one of my strongest subjects, so some of the meaning of what she was saying was a little lost on me; but it did make me marvel at how amazing my girlfriend is, she had the entire chamber full of hardened, cynical politicians eating out of her hand; no wonder she won the vote. When she concluded her speech, the mayor presented her with a trophy or sorts, it looked like a brass plaque with a sakura tree etched into it, the brass was mounted to a varnished wooden stand.

She accepted the trophy and gave a polite bow, before returning to my side with a tear in her eye.

"We did it." Tomoyo wrapped her arms around me and rested her head against my chest. "They are safe at last."

We arrived home to an extremely excitable Kadee-san. It seems the tv station called to let us know that the coverage of the vote would be on tonight's news; she'd even gone and bought an old DVD recorder from a second-hand store so she could save a copy to keep.

So the whole family(and me) sat down to watch the news, Kadee-san already had the remote control aimed at the recorder to she get just the bit with Tomoyo in, Takafumi seemed to find his mother's excitement quite amusing; I'll admit seeing her like this was in such stark contrast to her usual calm, graceful demeanour that it was a bit funny.

The segment began and the recorder whirred into life, neither Takafumi nor Kadee speak English so the content of the speech was lost to them, but the passion that Tomoyo spoke with was more than enough to bring a tear to Kadee-san's eye; what we hadn't realised at the time was that they were still filming when Tomoyo came over and hugged me with a broad, contented smile on her face.

Tomoyo went crimson instantly, Fujita-san laughed, and Kadee-san let out a sigh and had universal 'aww that's cute' expression on her face.

"You realise we're going to cop it from Kyou tomorrow, don't you?"

"Yeah, there's no way she'd ever let that one slide."

"So now that you've saved the sakura trees, does that mean you'll be able to have lunch with me again?"

"I'll still have some council meetings, but I should be able to join you more often."

"Kotomi has been asking after you quite a bit actually."

"I meant to ask how's Kotomi doing since she's been seeing Doctor Harada?"

"Fairly similar to me really, without the swiss cheese memory mind you."

The remainder of the school year passed by uneventfully, Tomoyo managed to regain the number three spot in the exam league tables, so the top three read; Ichinose Kotomi, Okazaki Tomoya, Sakagami Tomoyo.

Before we knew it, I was back at the start of my third year of school, I found myself at the bottom of the hill again, thinking back on everything that had happened in the previous year.

My train of thought was broken when I spotted a familiar figure standing at the gates.

"Hey, it's Furukawa isn't it?"

"Oh, Okazaki-san, y-yes, it is, Furukawa Negisa."

"Weren't you supposed to graduate last year?"

"Yes… but I was off sick for too long, so I have to repeat again."

"Tomoya, aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Right, sorry; Furukawa-san this is Sakagami Tomoyo, student council president and more importantly, my girlfriend; Tomoyo this is Furukawa Negisa, we met last year, she was trying to revive the theatre club. How did that go by the way?"

"Oh, umm, I couldn't get enough people interested to be able to restart the club."

"Tomoya, we need to get going, we'll be late otherwise."

"Right, say, Furukawa-san, which class are you in this year?"

"Oh umm, 3-C."

"Same as us then, we'd best get moving it wouldn't look too good if the Council president was late on our first day. Would you like to walk to class with us?"

"A-are you sure I wouldn't be a bother?"

"No of course you won't be a bother, we're in the same class so it makes sense to get to know each other a little, don't you think?"

"W-well yes, thank you."

"So, are you going to try and revive the theatre club again?"

"Oh, no there wasn't anyone at all that wanted to join last year, so I don't think it would do any better this year."

"Hey, Tomoyo, could you help out at all?"

"Not really, if there aren't at least three members the club can't be started, plus I'm standing down soon anyway."

"True."

"Umm, i-if you don't mind me asking, why are you stepping down? You've done so much good."

"I mostly ran for student council president because I wanted to save the sakura trees, now they're safe, I want to be able to spend more time with Tomoya, he's been very patient with it all, but I guess my priorities have changed."

"O-oh, err, that's umm very romantic."

"Well, here we are, class 3-C our new home for the year. Do you know where you're supposed to be sitting?"

"Oh, I'm over there." Furukawa pointed to the middle of the second row.

"You're right behind us then. Maybe they wanted to keep the repeat students together." Furukawa blinked at me, not really understanding what I was saying.

"I was a third year when we met last year remember."

"Oh, yes sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Our teacher entered the room ending any further conversation.

"Good morning class, hmm, it looks like I get the two biggest brains in the school this year." The whole class turned and looked at Tomoyo and me.

"I hadn't thought of that, now Kotomi has graduated, that makes you the smarted person in the school."

"It hadn't occurred to me either, Kind of puts the pressure on a bit doesn't it."

"Rubbish, you'll walk it anyway."

"Probably."

Morning classes were a little too easy unfortunately.

"You're bored already. Aren't you?"

"Yeah, pretty much; Furukawa-san, do you want to join us for lunch?"

"Oh, a-are you sure I won't be in the way?"

"Of course, you won't be in the way."

"Well, thank you, that would be very nice."

"What do you think, should we go to the library like we did last year or head somewhere else?"

"The library would be a little depressing without Kotomi being there when we arrive."

"Hmm, you're probably right, how about the courtyard?"

"That'll do, that alright with you Furukawa?"

"Yes, I really don't mind." We headed out to the courtyard with Furukawa trailing a little behind us.

"Umm, excuse me but, what did the teacher mean when he said he had the biggest brains in the school this year?"

"Last year Ichinose Kotomi had the highest IQ and test scores, but she graduated, so Tomoya here takes the top spot this year, and I had the third highest test scores, behind Kotomi and Tomoya." Furukawa stared at us wide eyed.

"You didn't pay much attention to the league tables then?"

"N-no, I'm never very far up the tables, so I didn't see much point in looking."

"I used to be the same way myself, before Tomoyo straightened me out that is."

"He went from second from bottom, to top five in one go."

"That's amazing Okazaki-san."

"It's not that amazing."

"You don't think jumping 694 places in one go is amazing?"

"Well when you put it like that, but you know I don't like too much fuss made about it."

"I can't help it if I'm proud of you can I."

"Fine I surrender…"

Furukawa watched our exchange with a look of mild confusion.

"So, Furukawa how did you get on with the classes this morning."

"The math class was a little difficult, but otherwise it was okay."

"I kind of assumed you'd find it a bit easier because you've done the class before."

"I've never been any good with math, so it isn't much easier."

"Don't tell him things like that, he'll try to help."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"Because he's literally a math genius, he thinks his explanations are really simple, but they just confuse even me."

"I'd love to be able to help but like Tomoyo says, I have a hard time simplifying the explanations."

"So, Okazaki-san is really a genius?"

"He doesn't like to say it himself, but yes, he is officially a genius, his IQ is 146." Furukawa gave Tomoyo a blank look.

"See, I told you nobody actually understands what the numbers mean."

"An average person's IQ is around 100, I'm considered very intelligent at 125, so I wasn't exaggerating when I said he was the smartest person in the school, it's unlikely that any of the teachers has a higher IQ either." Furukawa stared at me with her mouth hanging open.

"See, this is why I don't like telling people."

"What? I like showing off my boyfriend's huge brain, so shoot me."

The rest of the day went by without incident, once I'd finished the homework for the day I decided to see if I could find something interesting to study on the side.

"You're not still working on the homework, are you?"

"Hmm? Oh, no I finished that ages ago."

"What are you working on then?"

"I'm just looking for something interesting to study."

"Find anything yet?"

"Nothing really jumping out at me at the moment; I'm thinking maybe looking at learning a new language."

"That could come in handy, any thoughts on which one you're going to study?"

"My English is pretty good these days, so I was thinking of either German or Spanish."

"German may serve you better in the future if you're going to study architecture; a lot of big engineering companies are based in Germany."

"Good point, German it is then; I can always give Spanish a go later on if I want to."

"At the rate you learn things, it won't be that much later."

"To a point, it took me a while to get the hang of making the sounds required for English, I'd expect German to have the same challenges."

"You still picked English up in less than a year."

"How long did it take you?"  
"Two years, and I'm still nowhere near as fluent as you are."

"I guess learning things the way I do these days feels so natural, I forget that it isn't that way for everyone."

"Makes sense I guess; and to think, people used to say you were holding _me_ back."

"To be fair, I was holding you back a bit at the time."

"I still don't think that any of the problems we had at the time were really your doing."

"How do you work that out?"

"You didn't make me use the PA to tell you I was going to be busy, I chose to skip home room and listen to the election results with you, I chose to put that bear suit on and hide from the rest of the council at the founders festival, even on the day you tried to break up with me, I was the one that chose to skip the council meeting and have ice-cream with you; it was all my own lack of self-control that caused it all, the only thing that you did to cause any of it was make me happier than I'd ever been before."

"Skipping home room to listen to the results was my idea."

"True, but you didn't even have to try to talk me into it, I could have said no."

"Well… I don't know if I'd say it had nothing to do with me, maybe I just convinced myself I was the bad guy, everyone else seemed to think I was, so I guess it just made sense."

"The only part of the trouble we had that was your doing, was when you tried to threaten the teacher that caught us kissing in the classroom, and you only did that to try and protect me."

"It was a really dumb thing to do though."

"I won't argue with you there, but aside from that it was all my doing."

"Alright I give in, I know when I'm beaten."

School continued on as it always has, the same old routine day after day, Furukawa began to get a bit more comfortable with Tomoyo and me, her heath was a bit fragile and she was off sick for nearly a month, but she soldered on regardless.

The months dribbled on by, nothing changing except for the added stress of finals and choosing a university. Given our grades Tomoyo and I could pretty much go anywhere we wanted to, so it really was just down to where did we want to go.

Tomoyo and sat eating our lunch with a stack of university brochures trying to decide which one suited us best, Furukawa looked curiously over our shoulders.

"Furukawa, what are you planning to do after we graduate?"

"I'll just be working in my family's bakery; but all this about university does seem exciting."

"Isn't there anything you'd like to do?"

"I had thought that teaching would have been nice, but I don't think I could do it with my health the way it is."

"Really? You've done alright this year; you were only off that one time earlier in the year."

"I don't know… I don't think my grades are good enough anyway."

"What's the harm in trying, if you get offered a place then you'd have to decide if you really want to try for it."

"Ease of a little Tomoya, not everyone has the thirst for learning like you do."

"I know, it just seems like a lost opportunity."

"I'll have a talk to my Mom, see if she thinks it would be a good idea or not."

"Yeah, give it plenty of thought, you wouldn't want to regret not trying later on."

"Yes, thank you Okazaki-kun."

Tomoyo and I returned to the brochures as Furukawa sat deep in thought. The following day she sat down next to us.

"D-do any of these have teaching courses?"

"I think so, dig in and have a look." Furukawa took the brochure off the top of the stack next to me and flipped to the index.

"Your Mom told you to give it a try, did she?"

"She said that I would regret it if I didn't try, so I decided to take Okazaki-kun's advice."

"Good for you."

"Hey Furukawa, one of our friends started teacher training this year, I'm sure she'd be happy to give you some advice."

"You really don't think she'd mind?"

"She loves to talk all about it, she did all the touring around universities last year, so she should be able to save you some leg work, I'll give her a call after school and ask her."

"Thank you, that would be really nice of you."

"That's what friends are for isn't it?"

After school I called Kyou and explained the situation to her.

"So, you want me to talk her through where she could go and where she should avoid, that kind of thing."

"That's about the size of it yes, her grades aren't the best, but they should be good enough for her to be in with a chance; I just thought it would help if she could talk to someone who'd been through it recently."

"You have a real soft spot for the underdog, don't you?"

"And you don't?"

"Fair comment, alright I'll meet her after school on Saturday and see what I can do for her."

"Did you want Tomoyo and me to be there too?"

"At least to make the introductions; it's been a while since we've been able to catch up anyway."

"We could make it lunch if you like; my treat."

"Sounds great, I'll see you Saturday then."

We stood at the school gate waiting for Kyou to meet us, Furukawa stood fidgeting with her buttons nervously.

"Relax Furukawa, she doesn't bite."

"Not often at least."

"Not helping Tomoya."

"Sorry, I couldn't resist; Tomoyo's right though, she's a good friend and likes to help given the opportunity."

Once Kyou arrived she gave me and Tomoyo a hug.

"Hard to believe they used to hate each other's guts"

"Really, why?"

"We both fancied Tomoya, but she beat me to him."

"Oh…"

"Shall we get moving? I'm starving."

"Been a long day has it?"

"A couple of the boys in my training class are a bit… lively."

"Well you wouldn't want it to be boring, would you?"

"I don't think that is likely to happen any time soon; have you two worked out where you're going next year yet?"

"We've got it narrowed down to two options now."

"I wish I'd had as much choice as you two have."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be, it's taken forever to narrow it down this far."

"My heart bleeds."

"A-are you both going to go to the same place?"

"Yeah, we'd hardly see each other otherwise."

"Sickeningly cute isn't it?"

"I thought it was sweet."

"How do you keep finding all these soft-hearted women Tomoya?"

"No idea, I just seem to collect them as I go along."

"So, Furukawa, Tomoya tells me you want to be a teacher."

"Yes, I wasn't sure if I could do it but Okazaki-kun encouraged me to give it a try."

"Sounds like him alright, had you given any thought to what level you want to teach at? Kindergarten or middle school?"

"I had been thinking about kindergarten."

"Good thinking, you'd have to study for a bit longer if you want to work middle school and you'd need a master's degree if you want to teach secondary."

"I don't think I could manage that."

"Me neither; Tomoya could probably do it in his sleep; it's ridiculous how fast he learns things, did he tell you he learned German and Spanish because he was bored."

"My Spanish isn't that good yet."

"But you picked up German in about six months, didn't you?"

"More like five, for some reason he keeps telling people it took him longer than it did, and his Spanish is pretty good too."

"Hey, you're not supposed to tell them that."

"I have no idea why you're so modest about your capabilities."

"I just don't like being treated differently; can we just get back to helping Furukawa please?"

"Fine, there's only one uni you really need to avoid, but it's a pretty long way from here anyway…"

Kyou spent the hour talking Furukawa through the options and what would be expected of her once she started, they exchanged phone numbers and Kyou told Furukawa to call her if she needed any advice or had any questions.

"Now that you've heard a bit more about it all, do you still want to go for it?"

"Yes, I do, thank you Okazaki-kun, I wouldn't have considered it if you hadn't encouraged me to give it a try."

"Like I said, that's what friends are for."

The following week Tomoyo and I went to visit the two universities that we were considering applying to, there's only so much you can learn from the brochures after all.

Ultimately the deciding factor was that one of the two universities had recently spent a huge amount of money or renovating and improving its computer labs, it was also the smallest campus, so we wouldn't need to walk too far to be able to meet up with each other, the other campus was far larger, meaning that if we wanted to meet during one of the shorter break times we'd only have about five minutes actual break by the time we'd walked as far as the coffee shop. Transport links to the smaller campus were much better as well, so in the end it was a bit of a no brainer.

Furukawa applied to three universities, including the one Kyou was currently attending, it would be nice if she managed to get in there, but we weren't overly optimistic because it can be a bit picky about the students, they offer places to.

In principal Tomoyo and I should have applied to more than one university but when we had and talk to the admin department when we visited, we were told that with our academic standing we were as good as guaranteed a place on any course we wanted to apply for.

Within a week of posting our applications we received confirmation of our place in the entrance exam, Furukawa had a somewhat more nerve racking wait for an answer to her applications, but in the end two of the universities that she applied to entered her into the exams, although this did mean she'd have to sit two entrance exams.

What followed was a month of furious study for all three of us, by the end of it Furukawa was beginning to look a little worse for wear, but she was determined she was going to make it.

I took the top spot in the entrance exam, Tomoyo made it into the top five, and Furukawa managed to score high enough to get into one of the two universities she entered the exam for, it wasn't the same one as Kyou unfortunately; Kyou had kept in touch with Furukawa since their meeting and was doing her best to support Furukawa in her efforts, so it wasn't as though she didn't have anyone that would be able to advise her and give her a hand with her studies when she needed it.

With all of the exams and waiting for answers over with it felt like a huge weight was lifted off our shoulders; Tomoyo was insistent that I had no reason to worry at all, logically she was right, but I doubt worrying and logic have much to do with one another frankly.

Mitzaki-san had managed to secure a full scholarship for me, along with a small grant that should cover the cost of my books for the first couple of years; I'd be starting a paid internship after my second year, so paying for the books I'll need shouldn't be a problem. Tomoyo had been awarded a partial scholarship as well so it would lighten the financial load for her parents significantly, not that it was really an issue for them really, Tomoyo's Dad is pretty high up the food chain where he works so he's on pretty good money; they can afford to send Tomoyo and Takafumi to a private school after all.

We were in a kind of limbo for a while, we'd finished high school and we were now just waiting to start at uni, it was a welcome break form the manic studying and trying to work out where we should go, but it felt a little odd, we'd been busy for so long time off was a bit of a novelty. But it did mean that Tomoyo and I could go out on a few dates and just relax together.

Arriving home from one such date, we found both of Tomoyo's parents waiting for us.

"Tomoya, would you come and sit down please."

"Okay, what's up?"

"It's about your father."

"What's he done now?"

"It seems he got involved with a rough element and managed to get into debt with them from gambling."

"Why am I not surprised, I assume something happened because of it."

"Tomoya, he was stabbed and… I'm afraid he didn't survive his injuries."


	6. Chapter 6 - Catharsis (18 version)

**Chapter 6 – Catharsis**

The room stayed silent for a while, while everyone waited for my reaction.

"I'm not sure how I should feel at the moment." It was a shock obviously, but did I actually feel anything about his death? Tomoyo sat down next to me and took my hand.

"Never mind should, what _do_ you feel?"

"I don't really know… mildly relieved I guess, but that's about it at the moment."

"It'll probably take a while to really sink in, but you know I'm here if you need to talk about it." Tomoyo sat there just holding my hand while I tried to wrap my head around the fact that he was dead.

After a couple of days, I'd never really had any kind of emotional reaction to the fact that he was gone for good, even at his funeral I couldn't summon up any kind of sense of loss or sadness; I guess it's just hard to be sad about his death after everything he did to me.

The day after the funeral a lawyer showed up to read the will, I didn't think he'd have bothered with a will but apparently a few years ago he got around to writing one. He left everything to me, house and all. I'd assumed he'd been renting; I hadn't been near the place since the first few days I started living with the Sakagamis, presumably it had simply sat empty since he was arrested.

"I guess we should go and take a look at the place."

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I can't say I'm really looking forward to it, but I'll have to do it at some point."

"Okay, let's go then."

My heart rate increased slightly as we got close to the house, and I found myself turning to the breathing exercises that Dr Harada taught me.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit tense."

I stood and stared at the front door for a minute, trying to calm my nerves.

"Alright then, let's get it over with."

The door needed a good shove partly because of the giant pile of junk mail behind the door. There was still a slight smell of cheap booze and cigarettes, that alone kicked my heart rate up a notch.

I stepped into the lounge and looked at the floor where I saw him passed out so often, there was a layer of dust on everything that whirled in the beams of light from the windows as we moved.

I just wandered around the house fairly aimlessly until I saw the closet under the stairs; I froze on the spot and my heart kicked into high gear.

"Tomoya, it's okay, I'm here." Tomoyo made a beeline for me and took my hands in hers. I took long slow breaths, focusing on Tomoyo; slowly my heart rate began to fall. "You had me worried for while there."

"Me too… thank you." My hands were still shaky, but I was managing to calm down.

We began looking through the draws and cabinets, looking for anything that looked like important paperwork; I found a thick brown envelope with my father's name scrawled on it.

"Holy crap!"

"What?"

"It's full of cash… he must have won a bet or something before he was arrested."

We emptied the envelope out on to the table and began counting.

"Seriously, he had three million yen just sitting in a draw, and he gets killed for not paying his debts."

"He must have forgotten he had it, or he couldn't get anyone to collect it for him."

"Probably the latter, who'd believe him if he asked then to go and get his three million yen?"

"Good point, between that and the house itself, you shouldn't have a problem just buying a nice apartment or a small house of your own."

"Yeah…" After an hour of digging through draws and things we had all the paperwork we needed, everything else in the house was pretty much junk and not worth saving. "I'll get a cleaning crew in to clear it all out, then we can put it up for sale."

"Yeah, you don't ever have to come back again."

"Let the ghosts of the past stay where they belong."

The cleaning crew took the better part of a week to get the place looking presentable again. I decided to replace the tatami mats as well, they'd probably been in there for way too long already, and it made the place look quite nice, on the estate agent's website anyway. It went up at twenty-eight million yen, perhaps a little optimistic but not excessive.

There wasn't much in the way of paperwork to deal with, just closing of bank accounts utility bills and so on, it did cost me I little to settle his debts but the cash we found more than covered it. Tomoyo watched me like a hawk throughout the process, making doubly sure I was okay with dealing with my father's stuff; aside from the near miss at the house I didn't have any problems really, the odd sleepless night but otherwise okay.

The house had only been on the market for two days before someone made an offer, one of the local landlords wanted to add it to his portfolio, at twenty-five million it was a fair offer, so I didn't see any point in hanging on for more. When everything was paid off and cleared, I was left with twenty-seven million yen sitting in my bank account, not quite enough to get a nice house, but I wouldn't need much of a mortgage to get me there. With everything dealt with and out of the way it meant I could have real clean start at university.

The morning of our first day at uni Tomoyo was a little pessimistic in her assessment of how long it would take us to get there on the bus, so we ended up arriving on campus an hour earlier than we needed to be.

"Well, as long as we have the time, let's go and find the coffee shop."

"University students at last, exciting isn't it?"

"Yeah, a bit, and it only took me one extra year to get here."

"What if you needed an extra year to get here, you had the highest score out of everyone in the entrance exams, you can't tell me that didn't make you feel good."

"I'll give you that much, I was pretty pleased with myself, you didn't do bad yourself, top five isn't to be sniffed at."

"Yes, but my score was out of the ones going after my course, yours was the entire university intake."

"I hadn't realised that, I just assumed it was the course leader board like yours was. I hope they don't make too big of a deal about it."

"I know you don't like to stand out from the crowd, but you need to show any prospective employers what you can do, they're already going to be scoping out who they want to offer the good internships to."

"The trouble is any time I tell people what I'm capable of, it sounds really arrogant."

"It's only arrogance if you can't actually do the things you say you can."

"I guess, I still don't like the way people look at me when I tell them."

"All you need to worry about is how employers look at you."

"Okay, okay, I'd better go find my class, see you at break time."

I didn't have too much trouble finding my classroom, so I stood and chatted to some of the other students that were joining the same course. A couple of them seemed a little stuck up or arrogant, just because their family has money, or a parent was a politician.

Once the tutor arrived, we all filed in and found a seat, most people headed for the furthest back seat that they could, but I figured I'd be able to see better at the front.

"Alright ladies and gents simmer down please," He glanced down the list of names he had for his course.

"Hmm, it seems we have an exceptional young man in the room with us," I could see a couple of the more arrogant guys looking pretty smug.

"Would Okazaki Tomoya please stand up." Reluctantly I rose from my seat.

"This gentleman here was the highest scoring student in the entrance exams, not just this course but all of them." He paused for a moment to let it sink in.

"So, those of you that are already preening and thinking you're better than anyone else, and I have seen you gentlemen, forget it; employers don't care who your parents are or how much money your parents have, they care about what you can do. So, you can keep your conceited posturing to yourselves. Thank you, Tomoya-san you may sit down."

'_Would the world just open up and swallow me now please.'_

I got a few sour looks as I headed off to meet Tomoyo, but not quite as many as I thought I would.

"So how was your first class?"

"Honestly, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole."

"Why, what happened?"

"The tutor made me stand up while he told everyone that I scored the highest in the entrance exam, so they shouldn't go around being so arrogant."

"Basically, the opposite of what you wanted really."

"That pretty much sums it up yeah."

"At least you won't have to try and hide it."

"Not much of a consolation frankly, although a couple of the guys had it coming."

"Being a bit 'look at me I'm great', were they?"

"For the most bizarre reasons too, one of them thought that his parents being rich automatically made him great, and another's mom is a politician of some sort."

"They've probably had everything handed to them on a platter their whole lives and been constantly told that they're special. It's not like you'd want to be friends with someone like that anyway."

"Doesn't stop it being embarrassing unfortunately, but he did add that employers don't care who your parents are or how rich they are; they only care about what you can do."

"That's more or less what I was saying this morning really."

"Excuse me, Okazaki-sempai."

"Sempai?"

"I umm, I'm in your class."

"Technically you are his senior."

"Aaah, seriously you don't need to call me sempai; what can I do for you?"

"I know it's a bit forward, but would you mind if I sat next to you in class?"

"I don't mind, but what for?"

"Sometimes I can struggle with the math side of things."

"And you're hoping I'd help, are you?"

"If that's alright."

"We can give it a go, but math is kind of my speciality, so I'm not always great at simplifying things; what's your name?"

"Nakamura Akito, sorry I forgot to introduce myself."

"Don't worry about it, take a seat; this is Sakagami Tomoyo, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too, see Tomoya your huge brain doesn't freak everyone out."

"Does it really make people uncomfortable?"

"Depends, lots of people just stare at me like a deer in the head lights when they find out, some just start trying to ask me lots of questions, but most seem to think I look down on them just because I've got a high IQ."

"He does learn at a ridiculous speed; we gave him some questions from a masters in math and still walked through it like it was the easiest thing in the world."

"Like I said, math is my speciality."

"I see; have you two been together long?"

"A bit under two years."

"It's nice that you managed to get into the same university."

"Tomoya had the highest exam scores in a prestigious private high school, and I was in second place behind him, so we more or less had our pick of universities."

"See, deer in the head lights."

"S-sorry sempai, I was just a bit surprised."

"Seriously though, you don't need to call me sempai."

"Sorry, but my parents were very strict about things like that, so it's a bit of a reflex."

"Okay, don't stress it; we should probably head back to class actually."

*sigh*" Okay, I'll see you at lunch time then."

"Yep."

Nakamura retrieved his things from where he was sitting before brake time and deposited it on the desk next to me, I noticed the seat the other side of me was now occupied as well.

"Hey, I'm Libby York, you don't mind if I sit here, do you?"

"No it's fine, are you American?"

"No, English, I'm on an exchange program."

"Nice to meet you York-san."

"You can just call me Libby."

"I'm not convinced that my girlfriend would be too keen on that."

"Right, sorry, I forget some of the customs sometimes."

"That's okay, I used to get thrown off with English syntax from time to time."

"Okazaki-sempai, do you speak English as well?"

"As well as what?"

"He's probably talking about math, but I speak, English, German, Spanish and I'm working on French at the moment."

"Woooow, seriously you speak all of those languages."

"Yeah, I tend to soak things up like a sponge, my girlfriend keeps telling me to 'go inhale a book' if she's trying to get me out of the way."

"How long did it take to learn all of that?"

"A year ish."

"Wow, you weren't kidding about soaking things up, were you."

"I tended to get bored if I didn't have enough to study, I taught myself about computers and then moved on to languages after that."

"Have you always learned like that?"

"It's complicated but I actually don't remember much before the last year of middle school."

"How come?"

"The short version is I had a significant brain injury when I was eight."

"Harsh man, what about high school?"

"Again, a bit of a long story, but I repeated my second year, and resat my first year in a couple of months."

"Colourful life you've had."

"Is that what your girlfriend meant when she said that technically were my senior?"

"Yeah, I'm a year older than you."

"So, your girlfriend studies here too, does she?"

"Yeah, she's headed for politics."

"Wow, high power couple, you're not planning on taking over the world, are you?"

"No, we figured just Japan was plenty for us." York-san slapped the desk and laughed really loudly. "Not exactly the reserved type, are you?" She suddenly realised the entire class was watching her.

"Yikes, sorry, I haven't been in Japan long, I still haven't adjusted yet."

"Yeah, you might want to tone it down a few notches, you'll just end up annoying people otherwise."

"Right, I'll try my best."

The rest of the morning was pretty much straight forward, Nakamura needed a couple of pointers but nothing major.

"Soooo, are you meeting your girlfriend for lunch."

"Yes, would you be asking to tag a long, by any chance?"

"How did you guess?"

"Must be because of you being so shy and retiring."

"You know me so well already."

"You're not what you'd call subtle, you coming too Nakamura-san?"

"If that's okay with you sempai."

"Come on then, I'm starving."

"Tomoya, you're making lots of friends already."

"Yeah, this is York-san, she's on an exchange program from England."

"Libby York, nice to meet you."

"Sakagami Tomoyo, nice you to meet you too."

"So, Tomoya tells…"

"Tomoya?!" Tomoyo was definitely not pleased.

"Sorry, sorry, I haven't got used to the name thing yet, I've only been in Japan for a week."

"Calm down, I don't think she meant anything by it; right?"

"No, no absolutely not, I'm really sorry."

"Fine, but you need to be more careful."

"I will, I promise, she's kind of scary, isn't she?"

"You have no idea how right you are, I've yet to meet someone who's butt she couldn't kick."

"R-right, s-sorry."

"I strongly recommend that you read up on Japanese customs and manners; you'll end up getting yourself into real trouble if you aren't careful."

"Yeah, I should probably have done that before I came really."

"Probably?"

Nakamura watched the exchange with an expression of mild alarm, as Tomoyo glared at York-san.

"Come on Tomoyo, let it go will you."

"I just don't like girls getting too friendly with my boyfriend."

"I must admit I've never seen you act this way before, none of the other girls I know have ever been a problem."

"None of them would have dared to try anything."

"That's true, but give her a break, she's new in the country, granted she should have prepared better, but I'd rather you didn't maim my classmates." York-san looked quite alarmed at the mention of maiming.

*sigh* "Fine, just don't let it happen again."

"It won't."

"Did Tomoya manage to help you in class Nakamura-san?"

"Yes, he did thanks."

"You must be getting better at simplifying things."

"Yeah, I think it was trying to help Furukawa that did it."

"Did she manage to understand you?"

"Not really."

"Didn't think so."

York-san managed to get through the rest of lunch without further annoying Tomoyo, so she may survive the week if she can keep it up.

"Okazaki, your girlfriend is a bit intense, isn't she?"

"Not always, but she's extremely protective of me, and she tends to only show her softer side to people she knows really well."

"Is there a trick to getting on her good side?"

"No, just mind your manners and you'll be fine, and it kind of goes without saying, don't ever call me by my given name."

"Why is the name thing such a big deal?"

"It's a Japanese custom, referring to someone by their given name requires a fairly high degree of intimacy, and even then, only by mutual agreement; for example I have a friend I've known for years, but I still don't use her given name."

"I think I see why she was so pissed."

"Yes, but in your case, it was compounded by the lack of an honorific, which in itself suggests a _very_ intimate relationship, reserved for romantic partners, family and best friends for the most part."

"So I made it sound like we were dating?"

"More or less."

"This whole name thing is a bit of a minefield isn't it?"

"I guess if you haven't grown up using it you could find it a bit like that; you need to be pretty careful with the honorifics too."

"The san or sempai thing?"

"Yes, but there's a bunch of them, some of them suggest a degree of closeness as well; san is a fairly safe catch all, sempai refers to someone you see as your senior, sensei is for a teacher or instructor, chan or kun are either for someone your pretty friendly with or someone a fair bit younger than you; there's a bunch more but those are the ones you'll come across most."

"Sounds like I need to do a bit of reading tonight."

"That would definitely be in your best interests."

The following morning I arrived at our classroom to find York-san with her head buried in an etiquette book.

"Morning York-san, taking my advice I see."

"Yeah, I've only been in the country for a week, so I don't really have any friends yet, so it may be useful if I didn't piss people off as soon as I open my mouth."

"It would be a good start."

"Good morning Okazaki-sempai, York-san."

"Morning Nakamura-san, did you guys get on with the homework okay?"

"Homework, what homework?"

"The sheet that we were given at the end of class yesterday. I assume you haven't done it."

"Crap."

"You'd better go and grovel to the tutor then, what about you Nakamura-san?"

"I got a bit stuck on one question, but otherwise okay."

"If you're still not making much sense of it after we've reviewed it in class I'll see if I can help you out with it."

"Thanks."

"So what's the verdict York-san?"

"I've got to hand it in tomorrow morning along with the work we get today."

"Sounds like you got of lightly."

"I did get pretty well chewed out, what with it being so early in the course and all, he's a bit on the mean side if you ask me."

"Really? I thought he was quite nice when I spoke to him yesterday."

"Of course he's going to be nice to you, you're captain big brain; the rest of us mere mortals don't get the same treatment."

"It's probably got more to do with the fact you didn't do the first homework assignment of the year."

"I still like my version better."

The following morning York-san arrived looking like she'd stayed up all night.

"What happened to you, did you have a late night or something?"

"I had two homework assignments to do didn't I, so I didn't get to bed till three am."

"Geez, why so late, it can't take that long to do a couple of assignments can it?"

"Well yeah, how long do they take you?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you; it may be a bit depressing."

"Nakamura-san, how long did it take you?"

"About two and a half hours."

"Alright Captain big brain, how long did it take you?"

"About forty minutes."

"What, per question?"

"No, the whole assignment."

"You're right, that is depressing."

The following year and a half passed with very little changed, with one major exception, Kotomi took a job in a prestigious lab in Tokyo, she promised that she would visit often and call at least once a week, but in practice she calls every other day; Furukawa was doing extremely well on her teacher training course, she had no issues with her health and she was loving every minute of her classroom time. Tomoyo was at the top of her class and enjoying her course as much as I was mine, Akito was hanging on in the top ten, York-san was as disorganised and loud as she had been in the first week and she was struggling to keep up, but she had managed to avoid pissing Tomoyo off too often, although Tomoyo never did take to her much, she was a bit too loud for her tastes.

A couple of months later we were rapidly approaching a turning point in my course, we would be starting the internship phase of the course, technically speaking the university didn't provide an internship, but there was a degree of cooperation between the university and a number of the larger firms in the area, this meant that for those that were doing well in the course didn't really need to go and look for one, unfortunately for York-san she didn't fall into this group and she had to spend the majority of her free time trying to find a firm that would take her on; the first day that the firms began making offers to the top ten students in the class I had no less than eight offers in hand.

"Is there any way you can pass some of those offers on to me, you seem to have quite a surplus."

"I'd love to, but it really doesn't work that way; I take it you haven't had any offers that you like the look of?"

"I haven't had any offers period."

"Sorry to hear that, you'd be best sending letters to every architectural firm in the business directory."

"Yeah, I guess that's what I get for being so disorganised."

"I wasn't going to be quite so blunt but, yes, pretty much."

"Gee thanks."

"What about you Akito-san?"

"I've been offered one post so far."

"You'll probably get a few more as others make their choices."

"Any idea which one you're going to go for?"

"Not yet, I need to do a bit of research into the firms before I can make a decent decision."

"That could take a while."

"It's a bit like trying to choose a university all over again."

"My heart bleeds for you."

"Anyway, I'm starving, you two coming?"

"As long as you don't mind."

"What about you York-san?"

"No, I'm headed for the library, I need to get some studying in."

"Just the two of you today?"

"Yeah York-san got other things she needs to do."

"You're looking pretty pleased for yourself."

"They've started sending out internship offers."

"How did you get on then?"

"Eight of the firms have given me a job offer."

"Nice, anything you like the look of?"

"A couple, but I need to do a bit of research first."

"It must be exciting though, knowing you'll be starting a job soon."

"True enough."

I spent a few hours poking around on-line trying to find out what I could about the firms that had offered a place.

"Any closer to a decision?"

"Yes and no, one of the offers is from the largest firms in the area, but it's a bit of a long commute, the other really interesting offer was from a smaller but almost as prestigious firm, but it is a bit closer; what do you think?"

"The smaller firm sounds like a better option, but the chances for advancement may be a bit more limited."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same, but I don't know if advancement opportunities are really a problem, I could easily take a job elsewhere once I'm qualified."

"A smaller firm may be a bit more personal and friendly."

"True, sounds like I'm going for option two then."

The pay offer was far more generous than I had expected it to be, and it began to make me wonder if it was time I thought about getting my own place, but that in itself raised another question 'what about Tomoyo' we've been living together for years at this point, so I'd really miss her if she wasn't around, granted she could always come to my place but that would mean trying to get home late at night.

With only one solution in mind I decided it was time for me to do a little shopping. With decisions and a purchase made, I booked a nice restaurant for Christmas eve.

"I know you said you'd booked a nice restaurant, but I didn't think you meant _this_ nice, this must cost a fortune."

"I'm going to be on pretty good money when I start work in January, so I think I can afford to spoil you a little."

We had a delightful meal, the food was as nice as you'd expect it to be, the service was excellent, and the setting was perfect.

"I know we don't usually do gifts at Christmas, but there was something I really wanted to get you this year." I took the small box out of my pocket and slid it across the table to Tomoyo. She excitedly opened to box, and then froze in place.

"Is this…"

"Sakagami Tomoyo, will you marry me?" There was a brief look of disbelief crossed her face; but then a broad smile replaced it, and she slipped the ring onto her finger.

"Yes, yes I will."

As we walked home Tomoyo clung on to my arm, still grinning from ear to ear, gazing excitedly at her left hand.

"So what made you decide to pop the question?"

"The job offers got me thinking that maybe it was time I got my own place, but I really didn't want to end up with less time to spend with you, that got me thinking about us and where we were going."

"I thought you were waiting until after we graduate."

"I was, but I didn't want to have to wait for another three years."

Tomoyo's grin didn't go unnoticed when we got home.

"You two seem happy, good meal was it?"

"Look what Tomoya got me!" Tomoyo thrust her hand forward.

"Good for you, congratulations. I am a little surprised though, I thought you were waiting until you were waiting until after graduation."

"I decided I didn't want to wait that long, and now I'm starting work it felt like the right time."

"Well I'm glad you gave it plenty of thought, you'll be looking for a place of your own soon then."

"I was thinking that too, I need to have been working for six months before I can get a mortgage, we could get somewhere smaller now, but I'd rather wait a little longer and get something nicer."

"You have given it a lot of thought, haven't you?"

"It's not something I wanted to enter into too casually."

"Good, does that mean you've thought about a date?"

"That's more of a joint decision, and we're best waiting until we have a house to move into, so about eight or nine months from now."

"Kotomi's visiting at the weekend, isn't she?"

"Yeah, did you want to wait to tell the twins and Furukawa until then?"

"Yes, we can tell them all at once that way."

"I'm guessing you want Kotomi to be your maid of honour."

"How did you guess?"

"Call it a hunch."

A few days later Kotomi invited us all to her house for dinner like she always did when she made it back here.

"Sorry to hijack your dinner party Kotomi-chan, but Tomoya and I have an announcement to make. Tomoya proposed; we're getting married." Tomoyo started grinning again and presented her hand for inspection.

"Wow, that's quite a rock you've got there, it must have cost a pretty penny."

"Three months wages is customary, isn't it?"

"That's three months! I thought you were just an intern."

"Granted I'm still an intern, but I'm also way ahead of anyone else on my course, so a few of the top firms were trying to tempt me to work for them, so the pay they were offering was pretty generous."

"Generous is a bit of an understatement don't you think, anyway; congratulations."

The other four girls took their cue from Kyou and congratulated us and gave us both hugs.

"So, Kotomi, there's something I'd like to ask you; would you be my maid of Honour?"

"Tomoyo-chan! I would love to be your maid of honour, thank you."

"Ryou, Negisa and Kyou, would you be my bridesmaids?"

All three said yes in unison. The rest of the evening was largely taken up by the five girls excitedly discussing dresses, flowers and all things wedding really; with the amount Tomoyo was smiling I was sure her face would start to hurt eventually.

Two weeks later was first day of my internship, I'd already met Takahashi Itsuki my boss at an interview when I accepted the job offer, but today I would be meeting my direct superior and the rest of the office staff, it's a pretty small company with only fifteen employees, I would make it sixteen; despite its size it's very successful company and regularly won contracts for large government projects.

"Ah, Okazaki-san, you're nice and early."

"Lateness is something of a pet peeve for me, so I tend to aim to arrive well ahead of any appointment."

"Excellent, you'd be amazed how many interns we've had that arrived late for their first day; you're not too nervous I hope."

"Just a little, thank you sir."

"Good, I'll take you through and introduce you to your supervisor." He took me through to a break area where the rest of the employees were drinking coffee before starting work. "Kiko-san, this is Okazaki Tomoya your new intern; Okazaki-san this is Ito Kiko your supervisor; I'll leave you all to get acquainted, I have meeting shortly."

"Thank you Takahashi-sama."

"Okazaki-san, it's a pleasure to meet you at last, Itsuki-san speaks quite highly of you; he tells me you're quite exceptional."

"Nice to meet you too, it's kind of him to say so."

"Take a seat, would you like some coffee."

"Yes please, just black thank you."

"So, Itsuki-san tells me you're something of a whiz with languages."

"I've taught myself a few, just to keep from getting bored."

"A few? How many do you speak?"

"I'm fluent in English, German, Spanish and French, I haven't quite decided what to learn next, I figured that the company may have one or two that would be useful to learn."

"Italian would come in handy."

"Okay, I look into it tonight."

"You learned all of those, because you were bored?"

"I started when I was in high school, my girlfriend needed a lot longer than I did to finish the homework we were given so I decided to find something useful to learn, so I taught myself about computers and then moved on to languages from there."

"So the homework wasn't challenging enough?"

"No, Takahashi-sama may have mentioned languages but I have a very high IQ and I'm really, really good with numbers more so than anything else."

"I can see why you're at the top of your class; are you still seeing the same girl?"

"Yes, we just got engaged actually."

"Good for you; Itsuki-san will be pleased to hear that, he's of the opinion that family men are more reliable."

"I can't fault the logic, someone with a family has more to lose after all."

"I think you'll fit in alright, come on I'll show you to your desk."

The rest of the day was mostly taken up with getting to know where everything was and going through the employee handbook, with an extended lunch as a 'getting to know you' session for the rest of the staff.

"How was your first day at work?"

"Pretty good, it was mostly going through the employee handbook and getting to know everyone I'll be working with."

"So what are they like?"

"Quite friendly, a few of them even refer to Takahashi-sama by his given name."

"Did you speak to the boss yourself?"

"Briefly, he seems really approachable."

"Do you think you'll be happy working there?"

"I don't see why not, they seem to put a high value on camaraderie, everyone sits down and has coffee together before work starts, the have lunch together at least once a month, things like that."

"Sounds right up your alley."

"Yeah, even by the end of lunch it already felt comfortable."

"Good."

"How was your first day back at uni?"

"Fine, the girls made a big fuss when they saw my ring."

"I bet they did."

"Have you spoken to Nakamura yet today?"

"Yes, he got on okay, they're way more formal where he's working but honestly, I think that suits his temperament better anyway."

"Did you ask him?"

"No, I don't want to do that over the phone, I'll speak to him before class in the morning."

"Did you at least tell him we're engaged?"

"Yeah, I told him that last week."

"Did York-san find an internship?"

"Eventually, she's got an hour long commute each way and she's on a quarter of the money I'm on, but at least she got something."

"I was beginning to wonder if she'd get anything, how many interviews did she have in the end?"

"Five, I still don't think she can tone down her behaviour enough, I think that's what gave her the most problems at the interviews."

"I think the only reason she calmed down enough in the end was because she was getting a bit depressed."

"You're probably right, it'll be interesting to see how she got on with her first day."

"She was probably late."

"Wouldn't surprise me if she was."

"Akito-san, can I have a private word with you?"

"Of course."

"I wanted to ask you if you'd do something for me."

"Anything."

"Steady on; what I wanted to ask you was; would you be my best man?"

"A-are you sure you want me to do that."

"You're my closest male friend for one thing, and for another, I know I can rely on you."

"Thank you sempai, I would be honoured to be your best man."

"What were you two up to? And why did he just bow?"

"I was just asking him to be my best man."

"You're getting married!?"

"Why don't you say that a little louder, I think there's a few people in Brazil that didn't hear you."

"Sorry, I was just so unexpected."

"That depends who you ask really."

"When did you get engaged?"

"Christmas eve."

"Really?"

"Yeah why?"

"Just seems like an odd time to do it."

"Christmas eve is considered to be a romantic holiday in Japan, kind of like valentine's day in the western world."

"Really, I hadn't heard that, either way congratulations."

"Thank you, how did you get on with your first day at work?"

"It kinda sucked to be honest."

"Why, you weren't late were you?"

"No I wasn't late."

"What was the problem."

"I was expecting to be learning about architecture, not working as a bloody gopher."

"Gopher?"

"You know, go for this, go for that."

"I think that would make more sense in English; it doesn't really make sense in Japanese I'm afraid."

"Oh yeah, anyway all I did all day was fetch and carry."

"To be fair, all I did was go through the employee handbook and get to know the staff."

"Yeah but they'll probably have you designing a nuclear power plant by the end of the week."

"No, that's next week, I've got an airbase to finish this week."

"Oh very funny."

"Are you meeting Sakagami-san again today?"

"Have I ever not met her for lunch?"

"Well you've got me there."

"You just want to see the ring don't you."

"I'd be lying if I said no, but you don't think she'll mind showing me, do you? She not exactly my biggest fan."

"Are you kidding, she loves showing that thing off, come on."

"Sakagami-san, I understand congratulations are in order."

"Thank you, York-san."

"She just wanted to see the ring, but she'll spend ten minutes dancing around the subject given the chance."

"Of course you can see it."

"Holy crap, look at the size of that thing?"

"Everyone keeps saying that, but I thought three months wages was customary for these things."

"That's three months? It would take me a year to afford that thing."

"What can I say the firms that offered me internships were quite keen on me choosing them, so they tried tempting me with pay rates."

"Lucky sod."

"Luck has nothing to do with it, Tomoya simply has a skill set that appeals to employers."

"You don't have to shoot me down quite so hard you know." Tomoyo simply shrugged.

"Nakamura-san, did Tomoya ask you to help him out?"

"He did, I'm still a little surprised he wanted me to do it though."

"Nonsense, I thought you were the natural choice too."

"Thank you, have you decided on a date yet?"

"August 17th, it's a little tighter than we'd like for getting moved into our new place, but if we don't have another holiday until December otherwise."

"You're buying a house too?"

"We will be, I don't need much of a mortgage to get us somewhere nice, but I need to have been in work for six months to get one at all, add in a couple of months to get a sale completed and renovate and that pretty much gives us our window for the wedding."

"You've really got it all planned out that accurately?"

"Yeah, why is that weird?"

"Never mind, I really don't know why I'm surprised by you anymore."

"Akito-san, are you free on Sunday?"

"I can be."

"We need to go to the suit hire place and sort out sizes, and I want to go over the details with you a bit; is nine am okay with you?"

"That won't be a problem."

"You're going to tell me you've got everything booked already aren't you."

"Pretty much yeah."

"Nakamura-san, how was your first day at your internship?"

"Pretty good, it was mostly going over health and safety and the employee handbook really."

"Tomoya had the same thing, do you feel like you'll fit in all right?"

"I think so, it's pretty formal so I feel comfortable with it at least."

"Tomoya said he thought it would suit you pretty well, his place is the total opposite."

"I was surprised myself when he told me some of the employees use the owners given name."

"Looks like you two ended up in the right places really. How did you get on York-san?" I had a feeling that Tomoyo was just having another dig at York-san, I could be wrong, but I doubt I was really.

"Oh yeah, wonderful, as long as I want to be the tea girl for the next three years."

"Not what you were hoping for then."

"No, not even a little bit, I don't know what I was expecting really, they were the very last firm in the area, and I'm told they haven't had an intern in ten years."

"Sounds like there may be a good reason for that, could you see if you can find something somewhere else?"

"I wish, for one there literally aren't any firms that are still looking for an intern, and second, they made me sign a twelve month no compete contract."

"Ouch, is that twelve months from now or twelve months after you leave them?"

"From now thankfully, I'll just have to stick it out for a year and try again after that if it doesn't improve."

"There are minimum training requirement for it to qualify as an internship."

"Really?"

"Yeah, didn't you read the regs at all?"

"What kind of nutter actually sits down and reads the regs books?"

"That would be me."

"I mean normal people."

"Akito-san, did you read the regs books?"

"Of course, we've got an exam on them in a couple of weeks, haven't we?"

"A week on Friday actually."

"Seriously?"

"I'm afraid so, do you even own a copy of the regs?"

"What do you think?"

"You can borrow mine; I've more or less got it committed to memory by now."

"Thanks, you're a life saver."

"It wouldn't hurt if you took them to work and read them on your lunch break."

"How would that help?"

"Because it suggests to your employer that you know what they should and should not be doing."

"Psychological warfare, I like it, thanks."

"It's worth a try at least."

"So, have you two really got everything for the wedding booked already?"

"Technically no."

"I knew it, how much have you got left to do?"

"We've got a meeting with a photographer on Saturday afternoon."

"Is that it?"

"That's it, yes."

"Are you sure you're not going to try and take over the world?"

The next six months were fairly uneventful, unless you were York-san that is, she managed to fail her regs exam in spectacular style so she'll have to re-sit it with the class below us, her employer did get the hint when they saw her reading the regs books, or at least with it open in front of her, if I'm honest I was beginning to wonder if she was going to manage to finish the course.

We finally reached a point where we could get a mortgage and start house hunting.

"How many bedrooms are we looking for?"

"I was thinking four, but it depends if they have a study or not really."

"So three with a study?"

"Yeah that should work, I'm thinking we're going to be there for five or six years, so we don't need to go too mad on future proofing."

"Where are you thinking we're going in six years?"  
"I'm planning on designing our dream house, but we'll know better what we want and need out of a house once we've been living together for a few years."

"I love that you've planned that far ahead."

"I just think that there's a lot we have to look forward to, and I really love thinking about our future together."

"You make it very hard to concentrate on house hunting you know."

"Sorry, I'll try to be less romantic until we've chosen somewhere."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"We'll just have to find somewhere more quickly."

"What's our budget again?"

"If we find something we really, really like we can push it to one hundred and forty million, but I'd prefer to keep it under a sixty."

"Really!? How much did the mortgage advisor say you could have?"

"He'll let us have one hundred and ten million, but I don't really want to borrow that much."

"Okay, three bed and a study hmm…"

By the end of the evening we had a short list of six to see over the weekend and a very enthusiastic estate agent. When we specified that we were looking for a place with a study we were a little disappointed about what we actually ended up with; none of the listings gave room dimensions so the first we knew of the size of the study was when we arrived for a viewing, unfortunately every one of the houses we picked to look at had a laughably small study, so it was pretty much back to the drawing board again; the estate agent was very helpful and said she would look through her listings and send us links to any listings that she thought would fit our requirements.

Ultimately it took as a further two weeks to find something that we really liked, the layout was pretty much ideal, but it would need to be redecorated and have a new kitchen fitted before we moved in; I had allowed for this eventuality when planning the timings for the wedding and I had already found contractors that could do the work within the time frame.

The work was completed a little closer to the wedding than I had hoped it would be, but we still had a week to spare, giving us enough time to get our personal possessions moved in before the wedding making it possible for us to head to our new home directly from the reception; surprisingly Tomoyo had said that she would rather not go away for our honeymoon, she felt it would be better for us to have the time off together in our new home, so we could get used to married life and running a household while we were off, rather than have a holiday then settle into the house once we were back at uni.

Before we knew it the day was upon us, because we lived in the same house it would have made things difficult to not see Tomoyo before the actual ceremony so I spent the night before at our new house; frankly after living in a house full of people for a few years it felt a little bit lonely.

The ever reliable Akito arrived at the house in plenty of time and even had a comprehensive check list to make sure nothing got missed, so when it was time to leave for the church, I had no cause for concern over forgotten items and so on.

I had managed to stay pretty calm all morning, but as I entered the church and walked to the front with row upon row of our friends either side of me, I could feel butterflies in my stomach.

"Good afternoon Okazaki-san, you're not too nervous I hope." The pastor welcomed me in his trademark ebullient manner, he's American so he probably can't help it.

"No not too bad thank you, not until I got here anyway."

"Don't worry, it's as easy as falling off a log."

"Yeah, now if only I could convince my stomach." Akito slipped his phone back into his pocket and handed me a bottle of water.

"They'll be here in five minutes." I took a gulp of water and handed to bottle back to Akito.

"Thanks."

I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves and ran through a mental check list one last time.

"Well, if we haven't got something now, we'll have to go without."

"Everything is in order sempai, don't worry."

"I know, just call it paranoia." Akito's phone beeped.

"They're pulling up now." The music started and all other conversation in the building stopped abruptly.

The first I saw of Tomoyo was her statuesque form silhouetted in the doorway; as she stepped inside, I got my first look at her dress, it was elegant and form fitting, with delicate pleats and the glint of silver threads in intricate patterns on the upper body.

Tomoyo had elected not to have her veil down, so I could see her broad smile and gleaming eyes.

Tomoyo and her father stopped just short of me.

"Who gives this woman?"

"I give this woman." Fujita-san guided Tomoyo the last few paces as she took my hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered here today to bear witness, as these two people declare their love for each other and swear themselves to the other for the rest of their lives."

"If anyone knows of any reason why these two may not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." The only sound that could be heard, was the occasional sniffle from Tomoyo's mother.

"Do you Okazaki Tomoya take this woman Sakagami Tomoyo to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward, until death do you part?"

"I do." As gave my answer I slipped the ring on to her finger.

"Do you Sakagami Tomoyo, take this man Okazaki Tomoya to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward, until death do you part?"

"I do." Tomoyo put the ring on to my finger.

"You have pledged yourselves to one another before God and these witnesses assembled here, renew this pledge daily, love one another, cherish one another, and may all those assembled here hold you to account, should you fail to keep these vows."

"By the authority vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." Tomoyo stepped towards me and raised herself up onto tiptoes, and I leaned forward and kissed my wife for the first time.

We were guided to the side where we took our seats as the pastor gave a brief and entertaining sermon on the meaning of marriage, we sang a couple of songs and then Kotomi handed Tomoyo her glasses before we were led in to the office at the front of the church to sign the last of the paperwork making it all legal, it also gave us a moment to catch our breaths and actually talk to each other.

"You look absolutely stunning." Tomoyo hugged me tightly still with a huge grin on her face.

"Thank you, you look very dashing yourself."

"Why thank you Okazaki-chan."

"That's going to take a bit of getting used to."

"Okay we're all done here, if you're ready you may make your exit now."

"Thank you, Ashton-san."

"Shall we?"

"Yep."

We set off down the aisle as our friends and family clapped, once outside the photographer kept us busy for a while our guests filtered out and took photos of their own and came to congratulate us.

"Tomoya, it's wonderful to finally meet you and your lovely wife."

"Oba-san, I'm glad you could make it, I wasn't sure you'd manage the trip."

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Tomoyo-chan, you look so beautiful, your dress is simply gorgeous."

"Thank you Okazaki-sama, it's lovely to meet you."

"Call me Oba-san, we're family now."

The horse drawn carriage drew up outside of the church gates.

"Looks like our cue, we'll see you at the reception."

"Sempai, I'll get everyone moving." Akito headed to a couple of the larger clumps of people and they began to line up along the sides of the path to the gates.

"He really is very organised isn't he."

"Yeah, I couldn't hope for a better best man really; how was Kotomi?"

"I think she was more nervous than I was."

"I thought she would be somehow; looks like they're ready for us."

As we walked down the path the puffs of confetti and rice were almost continuous those that weren't throwing confetti or rice were clapping with big smiles or taking photos. The barrage didn't stop once we reached the carriage unfortunately, I guess we should have known that it would, given the carriage was open topped.

"I really wish nobody had been throwing rice."

"Why?"

"Because I've got uncooked rice in my bra."

"Could be worse, it could be cooked rice."

"Good point, besides you can help me get it out later." Tomoyo gave me a mischievous smile and put her arm around my bicep.

"You're just trying to make me blush now aren't you."

"Trying I thought I was doing a good job of it."

"I've said it before, but it's always the quiet ones that you need to look out for."

We got a lot of attention from the public as we passed by especially from little girls and old ladies. Most of our guests arrived at the hotel before we did so we went right through to the reception.

"Let the mingling commence."

"You really are a goof, aren't you?"

"Yep, and you're stuck with me now." Tomoyo chuckled quietly.

"We should probably find my parents first off."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Hi Mom, Dad, Oba-san."

"Hello sweetheart, so, was it all you hoped it would be?"

"It really was, but it's going to take me ages to get rid of all the rice I ended up collecting along the way."

"Well, you're stuck with him now." Confusion crossed Fujita-san's face as Tomoyo cracked up laughing. "It wasn't that funny."

"No, it's just Tomoya said the exact same thing when we got here."

"I knew there was something I liked about him."

"Can you believe it, our little girl is married and leaving home already."

"She's not moving that far."

"I know but I'm used to having three kids in the house, and all of a sudden I'm down to one."

"You're not going to start crying again, are you?"

"I might, I'm just getting a twinge of empty nest syndrome."

"We've still got Takafumi you know."

"He'll probably spend half his time at their house."

"True, he is going to miss his big brother."

"What about me?"

"Of course he'll miss you too, but it's been good for him to have a male role model besides his father."

"That's definitely true, I think he'd have died of embarrassment before he asked Dad for advice on asking a girl out."

"He was red enough just talking to me."

"When did that happen?"

"About a month ago I think; don't ask him about it though, I think he's still trying to work up the courage to ask her."

*sigh* "They grow up so fast."

"We'd best be moving on, or we'll be here all night."

"Alright sweetheart, we'll speak to you later, go have fun."

"Have you seen Nakamura-san anywhere?"

"He's probably with the twins."

"What makes you say that?"

"He's sweet on Fujibayashi."

"Really, why is this the first I'm hearing of it."

"Because it's Akito we're talking about, and he'd die of embarrassment if he told a girl about something like that."

"Good point, do you think he'll ask her out?"

"He was planning to ask her today."

"Maybe we should leave them to it then."

"Just check the colour of their faces before we talk to them, if either one is bright red, we leave them to it."

"Good thinking, they would make quite the pair, wouldn't they?"

"Yes, the amazing colour changing couple."

"Oh, there he is."

"What colour is he?"

"A bit green to be honest."

"He hasn't asked her yet then, let's see if we can settle his nerves a bit."

"If you say so."

"Akito, you look a bit nervous; I assume you haven't asked her out yet."

"Not yet sempai."

"Look, there's no way she's going to say no, I've seen her stealing glances at you before; so take a deep breath and man up."

"Yes, thank you sempai." He did as instructed and took a deep breath and headed off in the direction of the twins.

"Have you really seen her looking at him?"

"Yes, last time I saw her she was blushing too."

"I thought you were just trying to give him a bit of encouragement."

"I would have, but she does seem interested. See if you can get Kyou to come over here, give him a clear run at it." Tomoyo waved at Kyou and beckoned her over.

"Hey, is there a reason you didn't call Ryou too?"

"Akito-san is going to ask your sister out."

"About time."

"You knew he likes her?"

"I know she likes him."

"See, I told you so."

"I hadn't noticed either of them."

"I think you've been a bit preoccupied with the wedding."

"Ooh, look she's gone bright red."

"What about him?"

"White at the moment; wait, he's going red now. She's smiling… Ooops we've been spotted." They both went bright red but came over to us. "You managed it then?"

"Yes, thank you sempai." Ryou looked confused. "Tomoya-sempai encouraged me to speak to you."

"Oh… Thank you, Okazaki-kun, I never would have been brave enough to ask myself."

"You're welcome, you're both good friends of ours so it'll be nice to see you two happy."

"We should move on before we embarrass them more, and I wanted to catch up to Kotomi before the speeches." Kyou followed us to see Kotomi and Furukawa.

"Tomoya-kun, Tomoyo-chan, it was a lovely service wasn't it?"

"Hello Kotomi-chan, yes it was and thank you for being part of it." We chatted to Kotomi and Kyou for a while before we were called away to begin the speeches. Fujita-san was first up.

"Good evening everyone, thank you for joining us to celebrate my daughter's wedding, it's usual for the father of the bride to bemoan to loss of his daughter, and certainly Kadee has already been getting a bit weepy that two of her kids will be leaving the nest; that in itself should tell you all you need to know about how fond of Tomoya we have both become; he's been through quite a transformation in the time he's been with us, from misunderstood delinquent to a genius that all teachers love to teach; although much about him has changed, he has remained totally devoted to Tomoyo, anyone who knows them can see that they really are perfect for one another, so I have no regrets in leaving Tomoyo in his care."

"Well, I guess it's my turn; I get the easy job, all I'm supposed to do is thank everyone the was involved in the wedding; it goes without saying that I will be eternally grateful to Fujita-san and Kadee-san for taking me in when I needed help despite the fact they had known me for less than two hours, over the last few years they have made me feel like part of the family and given me a real home, but I'll move on before I make Kadee-san starts to cry again. Akito has also been pivotal in making our wedding run smoothly, and efficiently, his peerless organisational skills have made the entire day feel effortless. I also need to thank Kotomi-chan, Negisa-chan and the Fujibayashi twins for being an important part of Tomoyo's bridal party. It's Akito's turn to give his speech now, so I'll hand you over to him."

"Thank you, sempai, I hate to disappoint everyone but I don't really have much in the way of embarrassing stories to share, the closest I can get is the first day in uni when our tutor held him up as an example of what employers are really looking for, and he stood there willing the floor to open up and swallow him whole. Even on that first day when he had only just met me, he immediately agreed to help me with my studies; over the last few years we've become very close and I've become close to Sakagami-san… I guess it's Okazaki-san now though, that could get confusing… anyway I'd have to agree with… The father of the bride, they were definitely made for each other, and I am truly grateful to have become part of their circle of friends. Before the buffet is opened, I'd like to make a brief toast, 'To the bride and Groom, may their lives together be truly blessed'. The buffet is now open."

The rest of the evening was fun, but it felt a little bit odd that we had to be the first to do everything, especially when it came to the first dance, I've never once been out dancing so I was very, very glad that Tomoyo had given me a few pointers so I didn't embarrass myself too much.

It was quite amusing to watch Akito's internal battle play out on his face as he tried to decide if he should ask Fujibayashi to dance, he did eventually pluck up the courage to ask her, and although they were both bright red when they headed to the dance floor, it wasn't too long before they relaxed and just enjoyed themselves; apart from the first dance the evening mostly felt like a good night out with our friends, but if I'm really honest I was wondering how early we could decently leave; Tomoyo must have been thinking something similar because every time I caught her looking at the clock, she would give a coy smile and blush.

Eventually we both seemed to decide enough was enough and it was time to throw the bouquet and get out of there. Once Akito made the announcement, what could only be described as a scrum, formed remarkably quickly, I'd been tempted to tell Tomoyo to try and aim for Fujibayashi, but the crowd resembled a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert, so it seemed unlikely to be possible; as the bouquet arced through the air a forest of hands sprang from the mass of over excited women; as the disappointed scrum members dispersed they revealed a startled and bright red Furukawa Negisa, holding the bouquet.

"It's like I keep telling you, it's always the quiet ones."

As we sat in the back of the limo on the way to the house my heart was already beating pretty fast, Tomoyo was looking pretty flushed as well so I think she was feeling the same way; once we arrived at our new home I unlocked and propped the door open, Tomoyo looked pretty amused as she waited for me. As is traditional I picked up my bride and carried her over the threshold.

"I can't believe that you actually did that."

"Traditions are important, and I wanted to make sure your first time coming into our new home to be a memorable for you."

"I have been here before you know."

"Not since we bought it and you haven't seen it since we had the work done."

"That's true; where did you put the bag that I gave you the other night?"

"It's in the master bedroom."

"I'd like to freshen up and get out of this dress."

"Right…"

Once we reached the bedroom Tomoyo grabbed her bag and headed for the bathroom.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back."

I decided that brushing my teeth was probably a good place to start, so I headed into the en suite, after I'd scrubbed the living day lights out of my teeth, I returned to the bedroom and began to remove my suit. I was still removing my tie when Tomoyo returned wearing a dark blue silk night gown, and a mischievous smile.

I froze halfway through taking off my tie, staring at the wonderous sight before me.

"You like it then?" I could only manage to nod. "Would you like some help with that?" She didn't wait for an answer; she sauntered over to me and pulled my tie from around my neck and began to undo the buttons of my shirt.

I managed to recover my senses, so when she undid the last button, I shrugged it off my shoulders as Tomoyo went to work on my belt.

"Not in the mood to wait I see."

"I think we've been waiting long enough, don't you?"

"You don't seriously need me to answer that do you?" Tomoyo stopped what she was doing, then wrapped her arms around my neck, stood up on tiptoes and gave me a very passionate kiss.

Once I was down to my shorts, Tomoyo took a step backwards and pulled one of her straps off her shoulder, the mischievous smile returned to her face as she pulled the other strap off and allowed her nighty to fall to the floor and kicked it out of the way, to say I was speechless would be an understatement. She took my hand and led me over to the bed and slipped under the covers.

As soon as I got into bed next to her, she snuggled up to my side and rested her head on my chest.

"Your hart is beating really fast."

"Can you blame me?"

"No, but it is quite flattering." I was acutely aware of the feel of her skin against mine and the soft bouncy mound pressed into my side.

"What can I say, you've got an amazingly sexy body." Tomoyo's fingers glided cross my chest, tracing the outline of my muscles.

"You've got a nice body yourself; I wasn't expecting you to quite so toned."

"I'm not sure if I'm flattered or offended." Her fingers drifted lower down and then slipped under the waistband of my shorts and wrapped around my penis.

"How about now?"

"I'm leaning more toward flattered."

"Good, I don't think you need these anymore, do you?" Tomoyo slid down the bed and removed my shorts and threw them off to the side of the room. "Much better."

"Yeah." She came further up the bed and gave me another passionate kiss, as the kiss continued Tomoyo's body position shifted, eventually she was lying on top of me; she broke the kiss and looked me in the eye, there was a hunger in her gaze as she licked her lips.

My fingers glided up her flanks, she shivered at my touch and I could feel goose bumps forming on her skin, I traced her spine with my fingertips causing her to shudder and gasp, almost of their own accord my hand continued lower, I gave her butt a gentle squeeze, Tomoyo made a sound very similar to a purr.

"Mmm, how long have you been waiting to do that?"

"How long have we been together?" Tomoyo chuckled and sat up on my hips, pressing her groin against my own, noticing that my eyes were now focused on her breasts, placing her hands on my chest she pressed them together a little.

"Do you like them?"

"They're awesome… can… can I touch them?" She gave me a small nod, she was already fairly flushed, but now she was getting even redder; I didn't need to be told twice so I carefully took one of her breasts and gave it a gentle squeeze marvelling at the soft, yielding and elastic flesh; her small pink nipples were rapidly hardening as goose bumps appeared and Tomoyo shivered and released a quiet sigh.

"That feels really good." Her hips squirmed restlessly as I continued to fondle her breasts, as her hips continued to shift and grind against mine, I leaned forward and sucked one of her nipples into my mouth, Tomoyo gave sudden gasp and flinched.

"Sorry, did that hurt?"

"No, it felt great, don't stop." She even leaned forward to make it easier for me to reach; before long she was breathing pretty hard and she was grinding her slit against my shaft as she shuddered and moaned. "I can't wait any longer, I want you inside me." Probably the sexiest sentence I've ever heard.

Tomoyo raised her hips and reached down between us and took hold of my shaft, placing the tip against her opening she pressed her hips down and I slowly slipped into her.

"Wow, that feels amazing." Tomoyo had her head back and her eyes closed.

"Umhmm." It was clearly a little uncomfortable but she was setting the pace so there wasn't much I could do about it.

"Go easy, there's no rush, I don't want to hurt you."

"I know…" Progress came to a sudden stop as I met an obstruction, Tomoyo took a deep breath, and biting her lip she pressed down with a little more force, frowning through the pain she steadily increased the pressure until the resistance suddenly gave way and I slipped the rest of the way in, Tomoyo winced and stopped moving, resting her head on my chest.

"Are you okay? We can stop for tonight if you want."

"No, I'm fine I was just a bit uncomfortable; I'll be okay in a minute."

"Alright, just don't rush yourself." Soon after Tomoyo began to slowly move her hips up and down, the sensation was mind blowing, before long she began to speed up and switched to sweeping her hips back and forth, it didn't feel that different to me, but the effect on Tomoyo was immediate, her breathing was more a string of gasps and moans than breathing.

"Tomoya… I can't hold on anymore, I'm coming."

"Me too, don't wait for me."

Tomoyo arched her back and shuddered, gasping as her body shook and convulsed, the clenching and twitching of her walls tipped me over the edge and I pushed as far in as I could as I started to fill her womb with cum, Tomoyo collapsed on to my chest, her hips still twitching as my own orgasm subsided. We lay there still connected and gasping for air, it was a couple of minutes before either one of us was capable of making a sound resembling speech.

"That was awesome."

"Yeah… fantastic." Tomoyo slid off to the side a little and rested her head on my chest. "I'd go to the bathroom, but I don't think my legs would work just now." Within a few minutes her breathing slowed, and her eyes closed, I drifted off to sleep shortly after.

When I woke up in the morning Tomoyo was still fast asleep with her head on my chest and her leg hooked over mine. I couldn't bring myself to disturb her, she just looked so contented and peaceful. But before long she stretched and opened her eyes.

"Good morning, did you sleep okay." She yawned and stretched again.

"Yes, I slept really well thank you, what time is it?"

"Half nine, do you want some breakfast?"

"Good idea; where did my nighty go?"

"No idea, I wasn't looking at the nighty at the time." A faint tinge of pink crept on to Tomoyo's cheeks as she smiled.

"I would hope not really." She sat up and looked around the room, before getting out of bed and retrieving her discarded clothing.

"Are you okay after last night?"

"Huh?"

"You know, it looked like it really hurt at the time."

"Oh, I'm fine, I guess it stings a little bit, but it won't be a problem."

"Good, I really don't like the idea of hurting you again."

"It might be a little uncomfortable at the start for a little while, but that just means we need to practice."

"I like the sound of that, I'd suggest staying where we are, but I'm starving."

"Me too, but there's nothing stopping us having a little lie down later."

"Mmm, sounds like a nice idea to me." I wrapped my arms around Tomoyo from behind and kissed her neck.

"Easy tiger, breakfast first, fun later."

"You've got more self-restraint than I have, alright fine; I got us some croissants from the Furukawa bakery and some really nice jam to go with them."

"Sounds lovely, thank you." Once we both had some clothes on, we headed for the kitchen.

"They did a really good job in here, didn't they?"

"Yeah, they've done a great job in general, I'll keep their number for the next time we need builders." Tomoyo leaned against the kitchen counter and looked around.

"Seems really quiet doesn't it, you know, just the two of us."

"It's funny isn't it, you wouldn't really say that your folks are noisy, but you notice that there's nobody else around."

"It's nice though; you know, I don't think it's quite sunk in that we're actually married."

"I was thinking the same myself, right up to the point when you stood in front of me naked; that definitely made it feel different."

"There is that; it was really, really nice to be able to just cuddle up and got to sleep; I can't remember the last time I slept that well."

"Yeah, you looked adorable sleeping there against my chest like that."

"Mmm, it really felt so comforting snuggled up, skin to skin like that, like it's where I belonged." I wrapped my arms around her, she returned the favour and rested her head on my chest. "Mmm, feels like home."

"Yeah… did you want to do anything today?"

"No, I just want to spend some time with my husband."

"Okay, how about we snuggle up on the sofa and watch something."

"Sounds good to me, how are we fixed for food?"

"I had a bunch of stuff delivered the other day, so we should be good for the rest of the week."

"Great, thank you; coffee?"

"Please; did your dad say when they're planning on dropping off the wedding presents?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"At least we don't have to worry about someone dropping in on us today."

"I unplugged the doorbell anyway."

"Good thinking, come on let's eat." We sat around the table eating breakfast just like we have for a couple of years now, but something was definitely different. "What's different?"

"What do you mean different?"

"Something feels different, we always sit and eat breakfast together, but it feels different this morning."

"I guess it does; it is just us today," Tomoyo stroked my calf with her foot under the table. "And we can do anything we want now."

"That could be it, no holding back or trying not to get caught flirting with each other."

"Comfortable, isn't it?"

"Yeah, comfortable is a good word for it."


	7. Chapter 6 - Catharsis (PG version)

**Chapter 6 – Catharsis**

The room stayed silent for a while, while everyone waited for my reaction.

"I'm not sure how I should feel at the moment." It was a shock obviously, but did I actually feel anything about his death? Tomoyo sat down next to me and took my hand.

"Never mind should, what _do_ you feel?"

"I don't really know… mildly relieved I guess, but that's about it at the moment."

"It'll probably take a while to really sink in, but you know I'm here if you need to talk about it." Tomoyo sat there just holding my hand while I tried to wrap my head around the fact that he was dead.

After a couple of days, I'd never really had any kind of emotional reaction to the fact that he was gone for good, even at his funeral I couldn't summon up any kind of sense of loss or sadness; I guess it's just hard to be sad about his death after everything he did to me.

The day after the funeral a lawyer showed up to read the will, I didn't think he'd have bothered with a will but apparently a few years ago he got around to writing one. He left everything to me, house and all. I'd assumed he'd been renting; I hadn't been near the place since the first few days I started living with the Sakagamis, presumably it had simply sat empty since he was arrested.

"I guess we should go and take a look at the place."

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I can't say I'm really looking forward to it, but I'll have to do it at some point."

"Okay, let's go then."

My heart rate increased slightly as we got close to the house, and I found myself turning to the breathing exercises that Dr Harada taught me.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit tense."

I stood and stared at the front door for a minute, trying to calm my nerves.

"Alright then, let's get it over with."

The door needed a good shove partly because of the giant pile of junk mail behind the door. There was still a slight smell of cheap booze and cigarettes, that alone kicked my heart rate up a notch.

I stepped into the lounge and looked at the floor where I saw him passed out so often, there was a layer of dust on everything that whirled in the beams of light from the windows as we moved.

I just wandered around the house fairly aimlessly until I saw the closet under the stairs; I froze on the spot and my heart kicked into high gear.

"Tomoya, it's okay, I'm here." Tomoyo made a beeline for me and took my hands in hers. I took long slow breaths, focusing on Tomoyo; slowly my heart rate began to fall. "You had me worried for while there."

"Me too… thank you." My hands were still shaky, but I was managing to calm down.

We began looking through the draws and cabinets, looking for anything that looked like important paperwork; I found a thick brown envelope with my father's name scrawled on it.

"Holy crap!"

"What?"

"It's full of cash… he must have won a bet or something before he was arrested."

We emptied the envelope out on to the table and began counting.

"Seriously, he had three million yen just sitting in a draw, and he gets killed for not paying his debts."

"He must have forgotten he had it, or he couldn't get anyone to collect it for him."

"Probably the latter, who'd believe him if he asked then to go and get his three million yen?"

"Good point, between that and the house itself, you shouldn't have a problem just buying a nice apartment or a small house of your own."

"Yeah…" After an hour of digging through draws and things we had all the paperwork we needed, everything else in the house was pretty much junk and not worth saving. "I'll get a cleaning crew in to clear it all out, then we can put it up for sale."

"Yeah, you don't ever have to come back again."

"Let the ghosts of the past stay where they belong."

The cleaning crew took the better part of a week to get the place looking presentable again. I decided to replace the tatami mats as well, they'd probably been in there for way too long already, and it made the place look quite nice, on the estate agent's website anyway. It went up at twenty-eight million yen, perhaps a little optimistic but not excessive.

There wasn't much in the way of paperwork to deal with, just closing of bank accounts utility bills and so on, it did cost me I little to settle his debts but the cash we found more than covered it. Tomoyo watched me like a hawk throughout the process, making doubly sure I was okay with dealing with my father's stuff; aside from the near miss at the house I didn't have any problems really, the odd sleepless night but otherwise okay.

The house had only been on the market for two days before someone made an offer, one of the local landlords wanted to add it to his portfolio, at twenty-five million it was a fair offer, so I didn't see any point in hanging on for more. When everything was paid off and cleared, I was left with twenty-seven million yen sitting in my bank account, not quite enough to get a nice house, but I wouldn't need much of a mortgage to get me there. With everything dealt with and out of the way it meant I could have real clean start at university.

The morning of our first day at uni Tomoyo was a little pessimistic in her assessment of how long it would take us to get there on the bus, so we ended up arriving on campus an hour earlier than we needed to be.

"Well, as long as we have the time, let's go and find the coffee shop."

"University students at last, exciting isn't it?"

"Yeah, a bit, and it only took me one extra year to get here."

"What if you needed an extra year to get here, you had the highest score out of everyone in the entrance exams, you can't tell me that didn't make you feel good."

"I'll give you that much, I was pretty pleased with myself, you didn't do bad yourself, top five isn't to be sniffed at."

"Yes, but my score was out of the ones going after my course, yours was the entire university intake."

"I hadn't realised that, I just assumed it was the course leader board like yours was. I hope they don't make too big of a deal about it."

"I know you don't like to stand out from the crowd, but you need to show any prospective employers what you can do, they're already going to be scoping out who they want to offer the good internships to."

"The trouble is any time I tell people what I'm capable of, it sounds really arrogant."

"It's only arrogance if you can't actually do the things you say you can."

"I guess, I still don't like the way people look at me when I tell them."

"All you need to worry about is how employers look at you."

"Okay, okay, I'd better go find my class, see you at break time."

I didn't have too much trouble finding my classroom, so I stood and chatted to some of the other students that were joining the same course. A couple of them seemed a little stuck up or arrogant, just because their family has money, or a parent was a politician.

Once the tutor arrived, we all filed in and found a seat, most people headed for the furthest back seat that they could, but I figured I'd be able to see better at the front.

"Alright ladies and gents simmer down please," He glanced down the list of names he had for his course.

"Hmm, it seems we have an exceptional young man in the room with us," I could see a couple of the more arrogant guys looking pretty smug.

"Would Okazaki Tomoya please stand up." Reluctantly I rose from my seat.

"This gentleman here was the highest scoring student in the entrance exams, not just this course but all of them." He paused for a moment to let it sink in.

"So, those of you that are already preening and thinking you're better than anyone else, and I have seen you gentlemen, forget it; employers don't care who your parents are or how much money your parents have, they care about what you can do. So, you can keep your conceited posturing to yourselves. Thank you, Tomoya-san you may sit down."

'_Would the world just open up and swallow me now please.'_

I got a few sour looks as I headed off to meet Tomoyo, but not quite as many as I thought I would.

"So how was your first class?"

"Honestly, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole."

"Why, what happened?"

"The tutor made me stand up while he told everyone that I scored the highest in the entrance exam, so they shouldn't go around being so arrogant."

"Basically, the opposite of what you wanted really."

"That pretty much sums it up yeah."

"At least you won't have to try and hide it."

"Not much of a consolation frankly, although a couple of the guys had it coming."

"Being a bit 'look at me I'm great', were they?"

"For the most bizarre reasons too, one of them thought that his parents being rich automatically made him great, and another's mom is a politician of some sort."

"They've probably had everything handed to them on a platter their whole lives and been constantly told that they're special. It's not like you'd want to be friends with someone like that anyway."

"Doesn't stop it being embarrassing unfortunately, but he did add that employers don't care who your parents are or how rich they are; they only care about what you can do."

"That's more or less what I was saying this morning really."

"Excuse me, Okazaki-sempai."

"Sempai?"

"I umm, I'm in your class."

"Technically you are his senior."

"Aaah, seriously you don't need to call me sempai; what can I do for you?"

"I know it's a bit forward, but would you mind if I sat next to you in class?"

"I don't mind, but what for?"

"Sometimes I can struggle with the math side of things."

"And you're hoping I'd help, are you?"

"If that's alright."

"We can give it a go, but math is kind of my speciality, so I'm not always great at simplifying things; what's your name?"

"Nakamura Akito, sorry I forgot to introduce myself."

"Don't worry about it, take a seat; this is Sakagami Tomoyo, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too, see Tomoya your huge brain doesn't freak everyone out."

"Does it really make people uncomfortable?"

"Depends, lots of people just stare at me like a deer in the head lights when they find out, some just start trying to ask me lots of questions, but most seem to think I look down on them just because I've got a high IQ."

"He does learn at a ridiculous speed; we gave him some questions from a masters in math and still walked through it like it was the easiest thing in the world."

"Like I said, math is my speciality."

"I see; have you two been together long?"

"A bit under two years."

"It's nice that you managed to get into the same university."

"Tomoya had the highest exam scores in a prestigious private high school, and I was in second place behind him, so we more or less had our pick of universities."

"See, deer in the head lights."

"S-sorry sempai, I was just a bit surprised."

"Seriously though, you don't need to call me sempai."

"Sorry, but my parents were very strict about things like that, so it's a bit of a reflex."

"Okay, don't stress it; we should probably head back to class actually."

*sigh*" Okay, I'll see you at lunch time then."

"Yep."

Nakamura retrieved his things from where he was sitting before brake time and deposited it on the desk next to me, I noticed the seat the other side of me was now occupied as well.

"Hey, I'm Libby York, you don't mind if I sit here, do you?"

"No it's fine, are you American?"

"No, English, I'm on an exchange program."

"Nice to meet you York-san."

"You can just call me Libby."

"I'm not convinced that my girlfriend would be too keen on that."

"Right, sorry, I forget some of the customs sometimes."

"That's okay, I used to get thrown off with English syntax from time to time."

"Okazaki-sempai, do you speak English as well?"

"As well as what?"

"He's probably talking about math, but I speak, English, German, Spanish and I'm working on French at the moment."

"Woooow, seriously you speak all of those languages."

"Yeah, I tend to soak things up like a sponge, my girlfriend keeps telling me to 'go inhale a book' if she's trying to get me out of the way."

"How long did it take to learn all of that?"

"A year ish."

"Wow, you weren't kidding about soaking things up, were you."

"I tended to get bored if I didn't have enough to study, I taught myself about computers and then moved on to languages after that."

"Have you always learned like that?"

"It's complicated but I actually don't remember much before the last year of middle school."

"How come?"

"The short version is I had a significant brain injury when I was eight."

"Harsh man, what about high school?"

"Again, a bit of a long story, but I repeated my second year, and resat my first year in a couple of months."

"Colourful life you've had."

"Is that what your girlfriend meant when she said that technically were my senior?"

"Yeah, I'm a year older than you."

"So, your girlfriend studies here too, does she?"

"Yeah, she's headed for politics."

"Wow, high power couple, you're not planning on taking over the world, are you?"

"No, we figured just Japan was plenty for us." York-san slapped the desk and laughed really loudly. "Not exactly the reserved type, are you?" She suddenly realised the entire class was watching her.

"Yikes, sorry, I haven't been in Japan long, I still haven't adjusted yet."

"Yeah, you might want to tone it down a few notches, you'll just end up annoying people otherwise."

"Right, I'll try my best."

The rest of the morning was pretty much straight forward, Nakamura needed a couple of pointers but nothing major.

"Soooo, are you meeting your girlfriend for lunch."

"Yes, would you be asking to tag a long, by any chance?"

"How did you guess?"

"Must be because of you being so shy and retiring."

"You know me so well already."

"You're not what you'd call subtle, you coming too Nakamura-san?"

"If that's okay with you sempai."

"Come on then, I'm starving."

"Tomoya, you're making lots of friends already."

"Yeah, this is York-san, she's on an exchange program from England."

"Libby York, nice to meet you."

"Sakagami Tomoyo, nice you to meet you too."

"So, Tomoya tells…"

"Tomoya?!" Tomoyo was definitely not pleased.

"Sorry, sorry, I haven't got used to the name thing yet, I've only been in Japan for a week."

"Calm down, I don't think she meant anything by it; right?"

"No, no absolutely not, I'm really sorry."

"Fine, but you need to be more careful."

"I will, I promise, she's kind of scary, isn't she?"

"You have no idea how right you are, I've yet to meet someone who's butt she couldn't kick."

"R-right, s-sorry."

"I strongly recommend that you read up on Japanese customs and manners; you'll end up getting yourself into real trouble if you aren't careful."

"Yeah, I should probably have done that before I came really."

"Probably?"

Nakamura watched the exchange with an expression of mild alarm, as Tomoyo glared at York-san.

"Come on Tomoyo, let it go will you."

"I just don't like girls getting too friendly with my boyfriend."

"I must admit I've never seen you act this way before, none of the other girls I know have ever been a problem."

"None of them would have dared to try anything."

"That's true, but give her a break, she's new in the country, granted she should have prepared better, but I'd rather you didn't maim my classmates." York-san looked quite alarmed at the mention of maiming.

*sigh* "Fine, just don't let it happen again."

"It won't."

"Did Tomoya manage to help you in class Nakamura-san?"

"Yes, he did thanks."

"You must be getting better at simplifying things."

"Yeah, I think it was trying to help Furukawa that did it."

"Did she manage to understand you?"

"Not really."

"Didn't think so."

York-san managed to get through the rest of lunch without further annoying Tomoyo, so she may survive the week if she can keep it up.

"Okazaki, your girlfriend is a bit intense, isn't she?"

"Not always, but she's extremely protective of me, and she tends to only show her softer side to people she knows really well."

"Is there a trick to getting on her good side?"

"No, just mind your manners and you'll be fine, and it kind of goes without saying, don't ever call me by my given name."

"Why is the name thing such a big deal?"

"It's a Japanese custom, referring to someone by their given name requires a fairly high degree of intimacy, and even then, only by mutual agreement; for example I have a friend I've known for years, but I still don't use her given name."

"I think I see why she was so pissed."

"Yes, but in your case, it was compounded by the lack of an honorific, which in itself suggests a _very_ intimate relationship, reserved for romantic partners, family and best friends for the most part."

"So I made it sound like we were dating?"

"More or less."

"This whole name thing is a bit of a minefield isn't it?"

"I guess if you haven't grown up using it you could find it a bit like that; you need to be pretty careful with the honorifics too."

"The san or sempai thing?"

"Yes, but there's a bunch of them, some of them suggest a degree of closeness as well; san is a fairly safe catch all, sempai refers to someone you see as your senior, sensei is for a teacher or instructor, chan or kun are either for someone your pretty friendly with or someone a fair bit younger than you; there's a bunch more but those are the ones you'll come across most."

"Sounds like I need to do a bit of reading tonight."

"That would definitely be in your best interests."

The following morning I arrived at our classroom to find York-san with her head buried in an etiquette book.

"Morning York-san, taking my advice I see."

"Yeah, I've only been in the country for a week, so I don't really have any friends yet, so it may be useful if I didn't piss people off as soon as I open my mouth."

"It would be a good start."

"Good morning Okazaki-sempai, York-san."

"Morning Nakamura-san, did you guys get on with the homework okay?"

"Homework, what homework?"

"The sheet that we were given at the end of class yesterday. I assume you haven't done it."

"Crap."

"You'd better go and grovel to the tutor then, what about you Nakamura-san?"

"I got a bit stuck on one question, but otherwise okay."

"If you're still not making much sense of it after we've reviewed it in class I'll see if I can help you out with it."

"Thanks."

"So what's the verdict York-san?"

"I've got to hand it in tomorrow morning along with the work we get today."

"Sounds like you got of lightly."

"I did get pretty well chewed out, what with it being so early in the course and all, he's a bit on the mean side if you ask me."

"Really? I thought he was quite nice when I spoke to him yesterday."

"Of course he's going to be nice to you, you're captain big brain; the rest of us mere mortals don't get the same treatment."

"It's probably got more to do with the fact you didn't do the first homework assignment of the year."

"I still like my version better."

The following morning York-san arrived looking like she'd stayed up all night.

"What happened to you, did you have a late night or something?"

"I had two homework assignments to do didn't I, so I didn't get to bed till three am."

"Geez, why so late, it can't take that long to do a couple of assignments can it?"

"Well yeah, how long do they take you?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you; it may be a bit depressing."

"Nakamura-san, how long did it take you?"

"About two and a half hours."

"Alright Captain big brain, how long did it take you?"

"About forty minutes."

"What, per question?"

"No, the whole assignment."

"You're right, that is depressing."

The following year and a half passed with very little changed, with one major exception, Kotomi took a job in a prestigious lab in Tokyo, she promised that she would visit often and call at least once a week, but in practice she calls every other day; Furukawa was doing extremely well on her teacher training course, she had no issues with her health and she was loving every minute of her classroom time. Tomoyo was at the top of her class and enjoying her course as much as I was mine, Akito was hanging on in the top ten, York-san was as disorganised and loud as she had been in the first week and she was struggling to keep up, but she had managed to avoid pissing Tomoyo off too often, although Tomoyo never did take to her much, she was a bit too loud for her tastes.

A couple of months later we were rapidly approaching a turning point in my course, we would be starting the internship phase of the course, technically speaking the university didn't provide an internship, but there was a degree of cooperation between the university and a number of the larger firms in the area, this meant that for those that were doing well in the course didn't really need to go and look for one, unfortunately for York-san she didn't fall into this group and she had to spend the majority of her free time trying to find a firm that would take her on; the first day that the firms began making offers to the top ten students in the class I had no less than eight offers in hand.

"Is there any way you can pass some of those offers on to me, you seem to have quite a surplus."

"I'd love to, but it really doesn't work that way; I take it you haven't had any offers that you like the look of?"

"I haven't had any offers period."

"Sorry to hear that, you'd be best sending letters to every architectural firm in the business directory."

"Yeah, I guess that's what I get for being so disorganised."

"I wasn't going to be quite so blunt but, yes, pretty much."

"Gee thanks."

"What about you Akito-san?"

"I've been offered one post so far."

"You'll probably get a few more as others make their choices."

"Any idea which one you're going to go for?"

"Not yet, I need to do a bit of research into the firms before I can make a decent decision."

"That could take a while."

"It's a bit like trying to choose a university all over again."

"My heart bleeds for you."

"Anyway, I'm starving, you two coming?"

"As long as you don't mind."

"What about you York-san?"

"No, I'm headed for the library, I need to get some studying in."

"Just the two of you today?"

"Yeah York-san got other things she needs to do."

"You're looking pretty pleased for yourself."

"They've started sending out internship offers."

"How did you get on then?"

"Eight of the firms have given me a job offer."

"Nice, anything you like the look of?"

"A couple, but I need to do a bit of research first."

"It must be exciting though, knowing you'll be starting a job soon."

"True enough."

I spent a few hours poking around on-line trying to find out what I could about the firms that had offered a place.

"Any closer to a decision?"

"Yes and no, one of the offers is from the largest firms in the area, but it's a bit of a long commute, the other really interesting offer was from a smaller but almost as prestigious firm, but it is a bit closer; what do you think?"

"The smaller firm sounds like a better option, but the chances for advancement may be a bit more limited."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same, but I don't know if advancement opportunities are really a problem, I could easily take a job elsewhere once I'm qualified."

"A smaller firm may be a bit more personal and friendly."

"True, sounds like I'm going for option two then."

The pay offer was far more generous than I had expected it to be, and it began to make me wonder if it was time I thought about getting my own place, but that in itself raised another question 'what about Tomoyo' we've been living together for years at this point, so I'd really miss her if she wasn't around, granted she could always come to my place but that would mean trying to get home late at night.

With only one solution in mind I decided it was time for me to do a little shopping. With decisions and a purchase made, I booked a nice restaurant for Christmas eve.

"I know you said you'd booked a nice restaurant, but I didn't think you meant _this_ nice, this must cost a fortune."

"I'm going to be on pretty good money when I start work in January, so I think I can afford to spoil you a little."

We had a delightful meal, the food was as nice as you'd expect it to be, the service was excellent, and the setting was perfect.

"I know we don't usually do gifts at Christmas, but there was something I really wanted to get you this year." I took the small box out of my pocket and slid it across the table to Tomoyo. She excitedly opened to box, and then froze in place.

"Is this…"

"Sakagami Tomoyo, will you marry me?" There was a brief look of disbelief crossed her face; but then a broad smile replaced it, and she slipped the ring onto her finger.

"Yes, yes I will."

As we walked home Tomoyo clung on to my arm, still grinning from ear to ear, gazing excitedly at her left hand.

"So what made you decide to pop the question?"

"The job offers got me thinking that maybe it was time I got my own place, but I really didn't want to end up with less time to spend with you, that got me thinking about us and where we were going."

"I thought you were waiting until after we graduate."

"I was, but I didn't want to have to wait for another three years."

Tomoyo's grin didn't go unnoticed when we got home.

"You two seem happy, good meal was it?"

"Look what Tomoya got me!" Tomoyo thrust her hand forward.

"Good for you, congratulations. I am a little surprised though, I thought you were waiting until you were waiting until after graduation."

"I decided I didn't want to wait that long, and now I'm starting work it felt like the right time."

"Well I'm glad you gave it plenty of thought, you'll be looking for a place of your own soon then."

"I was thinking that too, I need to have been working for six months before I can get a mortgage, we could get somewhere smaller now, but I'd rather wait a little longer and get something nicer."

"You have given it a lot of thought, haven't you?"

"It's not something I wanted to enter into too casually."

"Good, does that mean you've thought about a date?"

"That's more of a joint decision, and we're best waiting until we have a house to move into, so about eight or nine months from now."

"Kotomi's visiting at the weekend, isn't she?"

"Yeah, did you want to wait to tell the twins and Furukawa until then?"

"Yes, we can tell them all at once that way."

"I'm guessing you want Kotomi to be your maid of honour."

"How did you guess?"

"Call it a hunch."

A few days later Kotomi invited us all to her house for dinner like she always did when she made it back here.

"Sorry to hijack your dinner party Kotomi-chan, but Tomoya and I have an announcement to make. Tomoya proposed; we're getting married." Tomoyo started grinning again and presented her hand for inspection.

"Wow, that's quite a rock you've got there, it must have cost a pretty penny."

"Three months wages is customary, isn't it?"

"That's three months! I thought you were just an intern."

"Granted I'm still an intern, but I'm also way ahead of anyone else on my course, so a few of the top firms were trying to tempt me to work for them, so the pay they were offering was pretty generous."

"Generous is a bit of an understatement don't you think, anyway; congratulations."

The other four girls took their cue from Kyou and congratulated us and gave us both hugs.

"So, Kotomi, there's something I'd like to ask you; would you be my maid of Honour?"

"Tomoyo-chan! I would love to be your maid of honour, thank you."

"Ryou, Negisa and Kyou, would you be my bridesmaids?"

All three said yes in unison. The rest of the evening was largely taken up by the five girls excitedly discussing dresses, flowers and all things wedding really; with the amount Tomoyo was smiling I was sure her face would start to hurt eventually.

Two weeks later was first day of my internship, I'd already met Takahashi Itsuki my boss at an interview when I accepted the job offer, but today I would be meeting my direct superior and the rest of the office staff, it's a pretty small company with only fifteen employees, I would make it sixteen; despite its size it's very successful company and regularly won contracts for large government projects.

"Ah, Okazaki-san, you're nice and early."

"Lateness is something of a pet peeve for me, so I tend to aim to arrive well ahead of any appointment."

"Excellent, you'd be amazed how many interns we've had that arrived late for their first day; you're not too nervous I hope."

"Just a little, thank you sir."

"Good, I'll take you through and introduce you to your supervisor." He took me through to a break area where the rest of the employees were drinking coffee before starting work. "Kiko-san, this is Okazaki Tomoya your new intern; Okazaki-san this is Ito Kiko your supervisor; I'll leave you all to get acquainted, I have meeting shortly."

"Thank you Takahashi-sama."

"Okazaki-san, it's a pleasure to meet you at last, Itsuki-san speaks quite highly of you; he tells me you're quite exceptional."

"Nice to meet you too, it's kind of him to say so."

"Take a seat, would you like some coffee."

"Yes please, just black thank you."

"So, Itsuki-san tells me you're something of a whiz with languages."

"I've taught myself a few, just to keep from getting bored."

"A few? How many do you speak?"

"I'm fluent in English, German, Spanish and French, I haven't quite decided what to learn next, I figured that the company may have one or two that would be useful to learn."

"Italian would come in handy."

"Okay, I look into it tonight."

"You learned all of those, because you were bored?"

"I started when I was in high school, my girlfriend needed a lot longer than I did to finish the homework we were given so I decided to find something useful to learn, so I taught myself about computers and then moved on to languages from there."

"So the homework wasn't challenging enough?"

"No, Takahashi-sama may have mentioned languages but I have a very high IQ and I'm really, really good with numbers more so than anything else."

"I can see why you're at the top of your class; are you still seeing the same girl?"

"Yes, we just got engaged actually."

"Good for you; Itsuki-san will be pleased to hear that, he's of the opinion that family men are more reliable."

"I can't fault the logic, someone with a family has more to lose after all."

"I think you'll fit in alright, come on I'll show you to your desk."

The rest of the day was mostly taken up with getting to know where everything was and going through the employee handbook, with an extended lunch as a 'getting to know you' session for the rest of the staff.

"How was your first day at work?"

"Pretty good, it was mostly going through the employee handbook and getting to know everyone I'll be working with."

"So what are they like?"

"Quite friendly, a few of them even refer to Takahashi-sama by his given name."

"Did you speak to the boss yourself?"

"Briefly, he seems really approachable."

"Do you think you'll be happy working there?"

"I don't see why not, they seem to put a high value on camaraderie, everyone sits down and has coffee together before work starts, the have lunch together at least once a month, things like that."

"Sounds right up your alley."

"Yeah, even by the end of lunch it already felt comfortable."

"Good."

"How was your first day back at uni?"

"Fine, the girls made a big fuss when they saw my ring."

"I bet they did."

"Have you spoken to Nakamura yet today?"

"Yes, he got on okay, they're way more formal where he's working but honestly, I think that suits his temperament better anyway."

"Did you ask him?"

"No, I don't want to do that over the phone, I'll speak to him before class in the morning."

"Did you at least tell him we're engaged?"

"Yeah, I told him that last week."

"Did York-san find an internship?"

"Eventually, she's got an hour long commute each way and she's on a quarter of the money I'm on, but at least she got something."

"I was beginning to wonder if she'd get anything, how many interviews did she have in the end?"

"Five, I still don't think she can tone down her behaviour enough, I think that's what gave her the most problems at the interviews."

"I think the only reason she calmed down enough in the end was because she was getting a bit depressed."

"You're probably right, it'll be interesting to see how she got on with her first day."

"She was probably late."

"Wouldn't surprise me if she was."

"Akito-san, can I have a private word with you?"

"Of course."

"I wanted to ask you if you'd do something for me."

"Anything."

"Steady on; what I wanted to ask you was; would you be my best man?"

"A-are you sure you want me to do that."

"You're my closest male friend for one thing, and for another, I know I can rely on you."

"Thank you sempai, I would be honoured to be your best man."

"What were you two up to? And why did he just bow?"

"I was just asking him to be my best man."

"You're getting married!?"

"Why don't you say that a little louder, I think there's a few people in Brazil that didn't hear you."

"Sorry, I was just so unexpected."

"That depends who you ask really."

"When did you get engaged?"

"Christmas eve."

"Really?"

"Yeah why?"

"Just seems like an odd time to do it."

"Christmas eve is considered to be a romantic holiday in Japan, kind of like valentine's day in the western world."

"Really, I hadn't heard that, either way congratulations."

"Thank you, how did you get on with your first day at work?"

"It kinda sucked to be honest."

"Why, you weren't late were you?"

"No I wasn't late."

"What was the problem."

"I was expecting to be learning about architecture, not working as a bloody gopher."

"Gopher?"

"You know, go for this, go for that."

"I think that would make more sense in English; it doesn't really make sense in Japanese I'm afraid."

"Oh yeah, anyway all I did all day was fetch and carry."

"To be fair, all I did was go through the employee handbook and get to know the staff."

"Yeah but they'll probably have you designing a nuclear power plant by the end of the week."

"No, that's next week, I've got an airbase to finish this week."

"Oh very funny."

"Are you meeting Sakagami-san again today?"

"Have I ever not met her for lunch?"

"Well you've got me there."

"You just want to see the ring don't you."

"I'd be lying if I said no, but you don't think she'll mind showing me, do you? She not exactly my biggest fan."

"Are you kidding, she loves showing that thing off, come on."

"Sakagami-san, I understand congratulations are in order."

"Thank you, York-san."

"She just wanted to see the ring, but she'll spend ten minutes dancing around the subject given the chance."

"Of course you can see it."

"Holy crap, look at the size of that thing?"

"Everyone keeps saying that, but I thought three months wages was customary for these things."

"That's three months? It would take me a year to afford that thing."

"What can I say the firms that offered me internships were quite keen on me choosing them, so they tried tempting me with pay rates."

"Lucky sod."

"Luck has nothing to do with it, Tomoya simply has a skill set that appeals to employers."

"You don't have to shoot me down quite so hard you know." Tomoyo simply shrugged.

"Nakamura-san, did Tomoya ask you to help him out?"

"He did, I'm still a little surprised he wanted me to do it though."

"Nonsense, I thought you were the natural choice too."

"Thank you, have you decided on a date yet?"

"August 17th, it's a little tighter than we'd like for getting moved into our new place, but if we don't have another holiday until December otherwise."

"You're buying a house too?"

"We will be, I don't need much of a mortgage to get us somewhere nice, but I need to have been in work for six months to get one at all, add in a couple of months to get a sale completed and renovate and that pretty much gives us our window for the wedding."

"You've really got it all planned out that accurately?"

"Yeah, why is that weird?"

"Never mind, I really don't know why I'm surprised by you anymore."

"Akito-san, are you free on Sunday?"

"I can be."

"We need to go to the suit hire place and sort out sizes, and I want to go over the details with you a bit; is nine am okay with you?"

"That won't be a problem."

"You're going to tell me you've got everything booked already aren't you."

"Pretty much yeah."

"Nakamura-san, how was your first day at your internship?"

"Pretty good, it was mostly going over health and safety and the employee handbook really."

"Tomoya had the same thing, do you feel like you'll fit in all right?"

"I think so, it's pretty formal so I feel comfortable with it at least."

"Tomoya said he thought it would suit you pretty well, his place is the total opposite."

"I was surprised myself when he told me some of the employees use the owners given name."

"Looks like you two ended up in the right places really. How did you get on York-san?" I had a feeling that Tomoyo was just having another dig at York-san, I could be wrong, but I doubt I was really.

"Oh yeah, wonderful, as long as I want to be the tea girl for the next three years."

"Not what you were hoping for then."

"No, not even a little bit, I don't know what I was expecting really, they were the very last firm in the area, and I'm told they haven't had an intern in ten years."

"Sounds like there may be a good reason for that, could you see if you can find something somewhere else?"

"I wish, for one there literally aren't any firms that are still looking for an intern, and second, they made me sign a twelve month no compete contract."

"Ouch, is that twelve months from now or twelve months after you leave them?"

"From now thankfully, I'll just have to stick it out for a year and try again after that if it doesn't improve."

"There are minimum training requirement for it to qualify as an internship."

"Really?"

"Yeah, didn't you read the regs at all?"

"What kind of nutter actually sits down and reads the regs books?"

"That would be me."

"I mean normal people."

"Akito-san, did you read the regs books?"

"Of course, we've got an exam on them in a couple of weeks, haven't we?"

"A week on Friday actually."

"Seriously?"

"I'm afraid so, do you even own a copy of the regs?"

"What do you think?"

"You can borrow mine; I've more or less got it committed to memory by now."

"Thanks, you're a life saver."

"It wouldn't hurt if you took them to work and read them on your lunch break."

"How would that help?"

"Because it suggests to your employer that you know what they should and should not be doing."

"Psychological warfare, I like it, thanks."

"It's worth a try at least."

"So, have you two really got everything for the wedding booked already?"

"Technically no."

"I knew it, how much have you got left to do?"

"We've got a meeting with a photographer on Saturday afternoon."

"Is that it?"

"That's it, yes."

"Are you sure you're not going to try and take over the world?"

The next six months were fairly uneventful, unless you were York-san that is, she managed to fail her regs exam in spectacular style so she'll have to re-sit it with the class below us, her employer did get the hint when they saw her reading the regs books, or at least with it open in front of her, if I'm honest I was beginning to wonder if she was going to manage to finish the course.

We finally reached a point where we could get a mortgage and start house hunting.

"How many bedrooms are we looking for?"

"I was thinking four, but it depends if they have a study or not really."

"So three with a study?"

"Yeah that should work, I'm thinking we're going to be there for five or six years, so we don't need to go too mad on future proofing."

"Where are you thinking we're going in six years?"  
"I'm planning on designing our dream house, but we'll know better what we want and need out of a house once we've been living together for a few years."

"I love that you've planned that far ahead."

"I just think that there's a lot we have to look forward to, and I really love thinking about our future together."

"You make it very hard to concentrate on house hunting you know."

"Sorry, I'll try to be less romantic until we've chosen somewhere."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"We'll just have to find somewhere more quickly."

"What's our budget again?"

"If we find something we really, really like we can push it to one hundred and forty million, but I'd prefer to keep it under a sixty."

"Really!? How much did the mortgage advisor say you could have?"

"He'll let us have one hundred and ten million, but I don't really want to borrow that much."

"Okay, three bed and a study hmm…"

By the end of the evening we had a short list of six to see over the weekend and a very enthusiastic estate agent. When we specified that we were looking for a place with a study we were a little disappointed about what we actually ended up with; none of the listings gave room dimensions so the first we knew of the size of the study was when we arrived for a viewing, unfortunately every one of the houses we picked to look at had a laughably small study, so it was pretty much back to the drawing board again; the estate agent was very helpful and said she would look through her listings and send us links to any listings that she thought would fit our requirements.

Ultimately it took as a further two weeks to find something that we really liked, the layout was pretty much ideal, but it would need to be redecorated and have a new kitchen fitted before we moved in; I had allowed for this eventuality when planning the timings for the wedding and I had already found contractors that could do the work within the time frame.

The work was completed a little closer to the wedding than I had hoped it would be, but we still had a week to spare, giving us enough time to get our personal possessions moved in before the wedding making it possible for us to head to our new home directly from the reception; surprisingly Tomoyo had said that she would rather not go away for our honeymoon, she felt it would be better for us to have the time off together in our new home, so we could get used to married life and running a household while we were off, rather than have a holiday then settle into the house once we were back at uni.

Before we knew it the day was upon us, because we lived in the same house it would have made things difficult to not see Tomoyo before the actual ceremony so I spent the night before at our new house; frankly after living in a house full of people for a few years it felt a little bit lonely.

The ever reliable Akito arrived at the house in plenty of time and even had a comprehensive check list to make sure nothing got missed, so when it was time to leave for the church, I had no cause for concern over forgotten items and so on.

I had managed to stay pretty calm all morning, but as I entered the church and walked to the front with row upon row of our friends either side of me, I could feel butterflies in my stomach.

"Good afternoon Okazaki-san, you're not too nervous I hope." The pastor welcomed me in his trademark ebullient manner, he's American so he probably can't help it.

"No not too bad thank you, not until I got here anyway."

"Don't worry, it's as easy as falling off a log."

"Yeah, now if only I could convince my stomach." Akito slipped his phone back into his pocket and handed me a bottle of water.

"They'll be here in five minutes." I took a gulp of water and handed to bottle back to Akito.

"Thanks."

I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves and ran through a mental check list one last time.

"Well, if we haven't got something now, we'll have to go without."

"Everything is in order sempai, don't worry."

"I know, just call it paranoia." Akito's phone beeped.

"They're pulling up now." The music started and all other conversation in the building stopped abruptly.

The first I saw of Tomoyo was her statuesque form silhouetted in the doorway; as she stepped inside, I got my first look at her dress, it was elegant and form fitting, with delicate pleats and the glint of silver threads in intricate patterns on the upper body.

Tomoyo had elected not to have her veil down, so I could see her broad smile and gleaming eyes.

Tomoyo and her father stopped just short of me.

"Who gives this woman?"

"I give this woman." Fujita-san guided Tomoyo the last few paces as she took my hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered here today to bear witness, as these two people declare their love for each other and swear themselves to the other for the rest of their lives."

"If anyone knows of any reason why these two may not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." The only sound that could be heard, was the occasional sniffle from Tomoyo's mother.

"Do you Okazaki Tomoya take this woman Sakagami Tomoyo to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward, until death do you part?"

"I do." As gave my answer I slipped the ring on to her finger.

"Do you Sakagami Tomoyo, take this man Okazaki Tomoya to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward, until death do you part?"

"I do." Tomoyo put the ring on to my finger.

"You have pledged yourselves to one another before God and these witnesses assembled here, renew this pledge daily, love one another, cherish one another, and may all those assembled here hold you to account, should you fail to keep these vows."

"By the authority vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." Tomoyo stepped towards me and raised herself up onto tiptoes, and I leaned forward and kissed my wife for the first time.

We were guided to the side where we took our seats as the pastor gave a brief and entertaining sermon on the meaning of marriage, we sang a couple of songs and then Kotomi handed Tomoyo her glasses before we were led in to the office at the front of the church to sign the last of the paperwork making it all legal, it also gave us a moment to catch our breaths and actually talk to each other.

"You look absolutely stunning." Tomoyo hugged me tightly still with a huge grin on her face.

"Thank you, you look very dashing yourself."

"Why thank you Okazaki-chan."

"That's going to take a bit of getting used to."

"Okay we're all done here, if you're ready you may make your exit now."

"Thank you, Ashton-san."

"Shall we?"

"Yep."

We set off down the aisle as our friends and family clapped, once outside the photographer kept us busy for a while our guests filtered out and took photos of their own and came to congratulate us.

"Tomoya, it's wonderful to finally meet you and your lovely wife."

"Oba-san, I'm glad you could make it, I wasn't sure you'd manage the trip."

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Tomoyo-chan, you look so beautiful, your dress is simply gorgeous."

"Thank you Okazaki-sama, it's lovely to meet you."

"Call me Oba-san, we're family now."

The horse drawn carriage drew up outside of the church gates.

"Looks like our cue, we'll see you at the reception."

"Sempai, I'll get everyone moving." Akito headed to a couple of the larger clumps of people and they began to line up along the sides of the path to the gates.

"He really is very organised isn't he."

"Yeah, I couldn't hope for a better best man really; how was Kotomi?"

"I think she was more nervous than I was."

"I thought she would be somehow; looks like they're ready for us."

As we walked down the path the puffs of confetti and rice were almost continuous those that weren't throwing confetti or rice were clapping with big smiles or taking photos. The barrage didn't stop once we reached the carriage unfortunately, I guess we should have known that it would, given the carriage was open topped.

"I really wish nobody had been throwing rice."

"Why?"

"Because I've got uncooked rice in my bra."

"Could be worse, it could be cooked rice."

"Good point, besides you can help me get it out later." Tomoyo gave me a mischievous smile and put her arm around my bicep.

"You're just trying to make me blush now aren't you."

"Trying I thought I was doing a good job of it."

"I've said it before, but it's always the quiet ones that you need to look out for."

We got a lot of attention from the public as we passed by especially from little girls and old ladies. Most of our guests arrived at the hotel before we did so we went right through to the reception.

"Let the mingling commence."

"You really are a goof, aren't you?"

"Yep, and you're stuck with me now." Tomoyo chuckled quietly.

"We should probably find my parents first off."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Hi Mom, Dad, Oba-san."

"Hello sweetheart, so, was it all you hoped it would be?"

"It really was, but it's going to take me ages to get rid of all the rice I ended up collecting along the way."

"Well, you're stuck with him now." Confusion crossed Fujita-san's face as Tomoyo cracked up laughing. "It wasn't that funny."

"No, it's just Tomoya said the exact same thing when we got here."

"I knew there was something I liked about him."

"Can you believe it, our little girl is married and leaving home already."

"She's not moving that far."

"I know but I'm used to having three kids in the house, and all of a sudden I'm down to one."

"You're not going to start crying again, are you?"

"I might, I'm just getting a twinge of empty nest syndrome."

"We've still got Takafumi you know."

"He'll probably spend half his time at their house."

"True, he is going to miss his big brother."

"What about me?"

"Of course he'll miss you too, but it's been good for him to have a male role model besides his father."

"That's definitely true, I think he'd have died of embarrassment before he asked Dad for advice on asking a girl out."

"He was red enough just talking to me."

"When did that happen?"

"About a month ago I think; don't ask him about it though, I think he's still trying to work up the courage to ask her."

*sigh* "They grow up so fast."

"We'd best be moving on, or we'll be here all night."

"Alright sweetheart, we'll speak to you later, go have fun."

"Have you seen Nakamura-san anywhere?"

"He's probably with the twins."

"What makes you say that?"

"He's sweet on Fujibayashi."

"Really, why is this the first I'm hearing of it."

"Because it's Akito we're talking about, and he'd die of embarrassment if he told a girl about something like that."

"Good point, do you think he'll ask her out?"

"He was planning to ask her today."

"Maybe we should leave them to it then."

"Just check the colour of their faces before we talk to them, if either one is bright red, we leave them to it."

"Good thinking, they would make quite the pair, wouldn't they?"

"Yes, the amazing colour changing couple."

"Oh, there he is."

"What colour is he?"

"A bit green to be honest."

"He hasn't asked her yet then, let's see if we can settle his nerves a bit."

"If you say so."

"Akito, you look a bit nervous; I assume you haven't asked her out yet."

"Not yet sempai."

"Look, there's no way she's going to say no, I've seen her stealing glances at you before; so take a deep breath and man up."

"Yes, thank you sempai." He did as instructed and took a deep breath and headed off in the direction of the twins.

"Have you really seen her looking at him?"

"Yes, last time I saw her she was blushing too."

"I thought you were just trying to give him a bit of encouragement."

"I would have, but she does seem interested. See if you can get Kyou to come over here, give him a clear run at it." Tomoyo waved at Kyou and beckoned her over.

"Hey, is there a reason you didn't call Ryou too?"

"Akito-san is going to ask your sister out."

"About time."

"You knew he likes her?"

"I know she likes him."

"See, I told you so."

"I hadn't noticed either of them."

"I think you've been a bit preoccupied with the wedding."

"Ooh, look she's gone bright red."

"What about him?"

"White at the moment; wait, he's going red now. She's smiling… Ooops we've been spotted." They both went bright red but came over to us. "You managed it then?"

"Yes, thank you sempai." Ryou looked confused. "Tomoya-sempai encouraged me to speak to you."

"Oh… Thank you, Okazaki-kun, I never would have been brave enough to ask myself."

"You're welcome, you're both good friends of ours so it'll be nice to see you two happy."

"We should move on before we embarrass them more, and I wanted to catch up to Kotomi before the speeches." Kyou followed us to see Kotomi and Furukawa.

"Tomoya-kun, Tomoyo-chan, it was a lovely service wasn't it?"

"Hello Kotomi-chan, yes it was and thank you for being part of it." We chatted to Kotomi and Kyou for a while before we were called away to begin the speeches. Fujita-san was first up.

"Good evening everyone, thank you for joining us to celebrate my daughter's wedding, it's usual for the father of the bride to bemoan to loss of his daughter, and certainly Kadee has already been getting a bit weepy that two of her kids will be leaving the nest; that in itself should tell you all you need to know about how fond of Tomoya we have both become; he's been through quite a transformation in the time he's been with us, from misunderstood delinquent to a genius that all teachers love to teach; although much about him has changed, he has remained totally devoted to Tomoyo, anyone who knows them can see that they really are perfect for one another, so I have no regrets in leaving Tomoyo in his care."

"Well, I guess it's my turn; I get the easy job, all I'm supposed to do is thank everyone the was involved in the wedding; it goes without saying that I will be eternally grateful to Fujita-san and Kadee-san for taking me in when I needed help despite the fact they had known me for less than two hours, over the last few years they have made me feel like part of the family and given me a real home, but I'll move on before I make Kadee-san starts to cry again. Akito has also been pivotal in making our wedding run smoothly, and efficiently, his peerless organisational skills have made the entire day feel effortless. I also need to thank Kotomi-chan, Negisa-chan and the Fujibayashi twins for being an important part of Tomoyo's bridal party. It's Akito's turn to give his speech now, so I'll hand you over to him."

"Thank you, sempai, I hate to disappoint everyone but I don't really have much in the way of embarrassing stories to share, the closest I can get is the first day in uni when our tutor held him up as an example of what employers are really looking for, and he stood there willing the floor to open up and swallow him whole. Even on that first day when he had only just met me, he immediately agreed to help me with my studies; over the last few years we've become very close and I've become close to Sakagami-san… I guess it's Okazaki-san now though, that could get confusing… anyway I'd have to agree with… The father of the bride, they were definitely made for each other, and I am truly grateful to have become part of their circle of friends. Before the buffet is opened, I'd like to make a brief toast, 'To the bride and Groom, may their lives together be truly blessed'. The buffet is now open."

The rest of the evening was fun, but it felt a little bit odd that we had to be the first to do everything, especially when it came to the first dance, I've never once been out dancing so I was very, very glad that Tomoyo had given me a few pointers so I didn't embarrass myself too much.

It was quite amusing to watch Akito's internal battle play out on his face as he tried to decide if he should ask Fujibayashi to dance, he did eventually pluck up the courage to ask her, and although they were both bright red when they headed to the dance floor, it wasn't too long before they relaxed and just enjoyed themselves; apart from the first dance the evening mostly felt like a good night out with our friends, but if I'm really honest I was wondering how early we could decently leave; Tomoyo must have been thinking something similar because every time I caught her looking at the clock, she would give a coy smile and blush.

Eventually we both seemed to decide enough was enough and it was time to throw the bouquet and get out of there. Once Akito made the announcement, what could only be described as a scrum, formed remarkably quickly, I'd been tempted to tell Tomoyo to try and aim for Fujibayashi, but the crowd resembled a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert, so it seemed unlikely to be possible; as the bouquet arced through the air a forest of hands sprang from the mass of over excited women; as the disappointed scrum members dispersed they revealed a startled and bright red Furukawa Negisa, holding the bouquet.

"It's like I keep telling you, it's always the quiet ones."

As we sat in the back of the limo on the way to the house my heart was already beating pretty fast, Tomoyo was looking pretty flushed as well so I think she was feeling the same way; once we arrived at our new home I unlocked and propped the door open, Tomoyo looked pretty amused as she waited for me. As is traditional I picked up my bride and carried her over the threshold.

"I can't believe that you actually did that."

"Traditions are important, and I wanted to make sure your first time coming into our new home to be a memorable for you."

"I have been here before you know."

"Not since we bought it and you haven't seen it since we had the work done."

"That's true; where did you put the bag that I gave you the other night?"

"It's in the master bedroom."

"I'd like to freshen up and get out of this dress."

"Right…"

Once we reached the bedroom Tomoyo grabbed her bag and headed for the bathroom.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back."

I decided that brushing my teeth was probably a good place to start, so I headed into the en suite, after I'd scrubbed the living day lights out of my teeth, I returned to the bedroom and began to remove my suit. I was still removing my tie when Tomoyo returned wearing a dark blue silk night gown, and a mischievous smile.

I froze halfway through taking off my tie, staring at the wonderous sight before me.

"You like it then?" I could only manage to nod. "Would you like some help with that?" She didn't wait for an answer; she sauntered over to me and pulled my tie from around my neck and began to undo the buttons of my shirt.

I managed to recover my senses, so when she undid the last button, I shrugged it off my shoulders as Tomoyo went to work on my belt.

"Not in the mood to wait I see."

"I think we've been waiting long enough, don't you?"

"You don't seriously need me to answer that do you?" Tomoyo stopped what she was doing, then wrapped her arms around my neck, stood up on tiptoes and gave me a very passionate kiss.

When I woke up in the morning Tomoyo was still fast asleep with her head on my chest and her leg hooked over mine. I couldn't bring myself to disturb her, she just looked so contented and peaceful. But before long she stretched and opened her eyes.

"Good morning, did you sleep okay." She yawned and stretched again.

"Yes, I slept really well thank you, what time is it?"

"Half nine, do you want some breakfast?"

"Good idea; where did my nighty go?"

"No idea, I wasn't looking at the nighty at the time." A faint tinge of pink crept on to Tomoyo's cheeks as she smiled.

"I would hope not really." She sat up and looked around the room, before getting out of bed and retrieving her discarded clothing.

"Are you okay after last night?"

"Huh?"

"You know, it looked like it really hurt at the time."

"Oh, I'm fine, I guess it stings a little bit, but it won't be a problem."

"Good, I really don't like the idea of hurting you again."

"It might be a little uncomfortable at the start for a little while, but that just means we need to practice."

"I like the sound of that, I'd suggest staying where we are, but I'm starving."

"Me too, but there's nothing stopping us having a little lie down later."

"Mmm, sounds like a nice idea to me." I wrapped my arms around Tomoyo from behind and kissed her neck.

"Easy tiger, breakfast first, fun later."

"You've got more self-restraint than I have, alright fine; I got us some croissants from the Furukawa bakery and some really nice jam to go with them."

"Sounds lovely, thank you." Once we both had some clothes on, we headed for the kitchen.

"They did a really good job in here, didn't they?"

"Yeah, they've done a great job in general, I'll keep their number for the next time we need builders." Tomoyo leaned against the kitchen counter and looked around.

"Seems really quiet doesn't it, you know, just the two of us."

"It's funny isn't it, you wouldn't really say that your folks are noisy, but you notice that there's nobody else around."

"It's nice though; you know, I don't think it's quite sunk in that we're actually married."

"I was thinking the same myself, right up to the point when you stood in front of me naked; that definitely made it feel different."

"There is that; it was really, really nice to be able to just cuddle up and got to sleep; I can't remember the last time I slept that well."

"Yeah, you looked adorable sleeping there against my chest like that."

"Mmm, it really felt so comforting snuggled up, skin to skin like that, like it's where I belonged." I wrapped my arms around her, she returned the favour and rested her head on my chest. "Mmm, feels like home."

"Yeah… did you want to do anything today?"

"No, I just want to spend some time with my husband."

"Okay, how about we snuggle up on the sofa and watch something."

"Sounds good to me, how are we fixed for food?"

"I had a bunch of stuff delivered the other day, so we should be good for the rest of the week."

"Great, thank you; coffee?"

"Please; did your dad say when they're planning on dropping off the wedding presents?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"At least we don't have to worry about someone dropping in on us today."

"I unplugged the doorbell anyway."

"Good thinking, come on let's eat." We sat around the table eating breakfast just like we have for a couple of years now, but something was definitely different. "What's different?"

"What do you mean different?"

"Something feels different, we always sit and eat breakfast together, but it feels different this morning."

"I guess it does; it is just us today," Tomoyo stroked my calf with her foot under the table. "And we can do anything we want now."

"That could be it, no holding back or trying not to get caught flirting with each other."

"Comfortable, isn't it?"

"Yeah, comfortable is a good word for it."


End file.
